The Trinamool Congress leadership on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on Birbhum killings, stating that it negated the BJP's demand for imposition of President's Rule in West Bengal.
PM Modi, on Wednesday, described the killings in Birbhum as "heinous", and said the culprits should not be forgiven. He hoped that the state government would take all necessary steps to punish the perpetrators.
The PM also promised all help to Bengal in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment proves that he, too, believes that it is the state government that should be conducting a probe into the matter. The demand for imposition of President's Rule by the BJP doesn't stand anymore," Trinamool state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
Mr Ghosh, however, wondered why the PM "chose to maintain silence on similar incidents" in Uttar Pradesh "What happened in Birbhum is condemnable. No one can support such violence. The PM, too, has condemned it. But we wonder why he maintains silence when carnages and mass murders take place in the BJP-ruled states. Has he ever condemned such incidents in Hathras and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh? The answer is no," The Trinamool leader said at a press meet in Kolkata.
Echoing him, state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said a "campaign was underway to malign Bengal".
"The state government has taken all necessary measures to nab the culprits and stand by the families," she maintained.
In response, the Bengal BJP leadership alleged that the TMC government was trying to “hush up the matter".
"Law and order is in the doldrums in Bengal. The state government is trying to shield the culprits," BJP state spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said.
Eight people were charred to death in Bogtui village of Birbhum district early on Tuesday in a suspect fallout of a TMC panchayat official's murder.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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