"PM, Amit Shah Must Explain": Mamata Banerjee On COVID-19 Teams In Bengal

Mamata Banerjee on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to explain why the Centre wants to send teams to Bengal to examine violations and dilutions of the coronavirus lockdown. Two inter-ministerial teams had already landed in Kolkata hours before her tweets, aiming to visit seven districts, including state capital Kolkata, to investigate reports of lockdown rules being violated.

In an angry letter to PM Modi, the Bengal Chief Minister wrote that while the Home Minister spoke to her around 1 pm to inform her about the visit, the teams had already landed in Kolkata airport at 10.10 am, "much before our conversation".

The home ministry's order on the teams' visit also reached only 30 minutes before they arrived, she wrote, alleging a breach of protocol.

Ms Banerjee also protested allegations that the lockdown had been violated in Bengal and the situation was "specifically serious" in some districts. "The selection of districts and observations made unilaterally are nothing but figments of imagination and unfortunate," she raged.

Insisting that her state had been ahead in announcing the lockdown and its extension, the Chief Minister said "such unilateral action on the part of the central government is not desirable at all".

Earlier, she had tweeted that until the Prime Minister and the home minister shared why the decision was taken to send the teams, her state would not be able to cooperate.

I urge both Honb'le Prime Minister @NarendraModi Ji & Home Minister @AmitShah Ji to share the criterion used for this. Until then I am afraid, we would not be able to move ahead on this as without valid reasons this might not be consistent with the spirit of federalism. (2/2)

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 20, 2020

We welcome all constructive support & suggestions, especially from the Central Govt in negating the #Covid19 crisis. However, the basis on which Centre is proposing to deploy IMCTs in select districts across India including few in WB under Disaster Mgmt Act 2005 is unclear.(1/2)

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 20, 2020

Both central teams landed in Bengal within 15 minutes of the state government being informed, chief secretary Rajiva Sinha told reporters. "They are behaving as if we are hiding something. We will not let them roam around in the state. The way they have come and gone to the field with the BSF, we cannot accept this. We have said come and talk to us then decide if you need to go into the field," Mr Sinha said.

The centre is believed to be concerned about reports of  "dilution" and "violation" of lockdown in Bengal; for example, sweet shops have been allowed to do business across the state, originally for four hours a day but later extended to eight hours. That changed on Monday again. Both sweet shops and flower markets will now open only from 8 am to 12 noon.

Based on Intelligence reports, MHA had said in its letter of 10 April that markets are open and crowded, religious congregations have allegedly been allowed and there is crowding at ration shops where political leaders are distributing rations.

Following that alert, on 17 April, Mamata Banerjee did crack the whip and told the police that police should be deployed at marketplaces to ensure there was no crowding and the lockdown should be enforced more strongly than before. Religious congregations were banned by the state but there have been a couple of gatherings that the police had to disperse.

The teams have been assigned to.visit Kolkata, Howrah, Midnapore East, 24 Parganas North, Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri. The state government has to provide accommodation, travel.