Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar will hold meetings with other national leaders (File)
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar spoke on Monday and discussed what they called the BJP-led central government's attempts to misuse its powers to destabilize opposition-ruled states, a senior Maharashtra leader said.
Nawab Mallik, a spokesperson of Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said Mamata Banerjee spoke about the centre targeting her government ahead of polls in Bengal, especially with reference to three senior police officers being ordered to report to Delhi after an attack on BJP chief JP Nadda's car near Kolkata recently.
"Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee discussed how the BJP is trying to destabilise Bengal, withdrawing government officials at will and infringing into the state's rights. The way the BJP is misusing central agencies is not right," Nawab Mallik told reporters.
"Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar will hold meetings with other national leaders too. Mr Pawar will go to Bengal if needed," he said.
Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee "share cordial relations since their days in the Congress", said senior Trinamool leaders.
With four months to high stakes assembly polls in Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of doing everything in its power to try and weaken her government and her Trinamool Congress party. Several opposition Chief Ministers have come out in her support. Besides Arvind Kejriwal, even Congress chief Ministers like Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) have criticized the centre's order transferring the officers, calling it interference.
"BJP is a 'cheatingbaaz' party, for politics they can do anything. BJP politics is that for politics they can say anything, all the garbage of lies," the Chief Minister said in a press conference on Monday, two days after some 35 rebels from her party joined the BJP at a rally of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
She has so far refused to send three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers ordered to move to Delhi on central deputation over the attack on the BJP chief's convoy by Trinamool supporters on December 10. The BJP alleged that its leaders were injured and cars were damaged in the incident.
Bengal's top administrative and police officers were summoned after the attack.
After Bengal rebuffed two summons, the Union Home Ministry agreed to a virtual meeting with the Chief Secretary and police chief last week and expressed concern over law and order situation in the state.
"Is there a super emergency or emergency in Bengal? Have they announced an emergency in Bengal yet? Then why will it be implemented only in Bengal? The elections are coming that's why? They want to scare the officers," Mamata Banerjee fumed on Monday.
Maharashtra, where the BJP's former ally Shiv Sena is running a coalition government with the NCP and the Congress, has had similar run-ins with the central government.