Chidambaram's assessment far from impartial: Buddhadeb

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today rejected the assessment of his state by Home Minister P Chidambaram, calling it 'surprising and far from impartial.'  

In a letter sent to Bhattacharjee, Chidambaram had virtually ordered him to disband armed cadres of the CPM, which he referred to as "Harmad Vahini" - a term which was coined and used by UPA ally and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee for CPM cadres. In a strongly-worded reply that was faxed on Tuesday, Buddhadeb said he strongly objects to the shared use of the term.

"I strongly object to your using the word 'harmad' (hired killers) to mean CPI-M party workers without knowing the meaning of the nasty word coined by Trinamool Congress," Bhattacharjee wrote.

On Monday, both Buddhadeb and his party, the CPM, targeted the Home Minister for making the contents of his letter available in public before it reached the West Bengal Chief Minister. Buddhadeb said Chidambaram's 'secret letter' dated December 21 reached his office on December 27.

That leak - the Chief Minister and his party suggested - was politically motivated, and aimed at keeping UPA ally Mamata Banerjee happy. Last week, Banerjee, who is the Railways Minister and brings 20 MPs to the table, had alleged the Bhattacharjee government of misusing central security forces sent to West Bengal. She also offered to quit if her charge was proved wrong.  

Advertisement

In his note, Bhattacharjee has said that the Trinamool Congress has secret contacts with Maoists leaders and their outfits are now openly organizing meetings with them. He has also emphasized that the CPM and its allies are mobilising people against the Maoists and added that the Trinamool was not cooperating in his efforts to stop the senseless killings by Maoists.

The Left has repeatedly accused Mamata Banerjee of supporting the Maoists.

Advertisement