The Amit Shah-led Union home ministry and the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal appear to be on a collision course after the MHA on Saturday shot off twin letters to the state government, wanting to know what measures have been taken to contain political violence and investigate incidents of violence to bring the culprits to book. Despite the TMC alleging a ''deep rooted political conspiracy'' by the BJP to dislodge the Mamata government in the state, the home ministry has done some plainspeak by putting on record the number of incidents of political violence in West Bengal in the last few years.
The home ministry has said incidents of political violence have doubled in two years, from 509 in 2016 to 1035 in 2018, in West Bengal. The MHA repeated in its advisory that the “unabated violence over the years is evidently a matter of deep concern”.
The fresh set of letters to West Bengal come a week after the MHA's first advisory to the state following clashes between the BJP and the TMC workers, expressing concern over the continuing post poll violence. The advisory had generated much political heat after the TMC alleged that there was a ''deep rooted conspiracy'' by the BJP to grab power in West Bengal and other opposition ruled states.
Despite the political stand off on the matter, the home ministry on Saturday shot off two letters. In the first letter, it pointed out the growing number of incidents of election-related and political violence and casualties over four years from 2016 to 2019.
A second letter has been dispatched in the form of an advisory on the ongoing strike by doctors and sought a report on the matter urgently.
While letters of communication normally go out from the health ministry on matters concerning strikes by doctors, the home ministry's decision to take up the matter indicates that the Centre is clearly treating it as a ''law and order'' issue, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Centre-state division of the MHA.
In the first letter, the MHA repeated that the “unabated violence over the years is evidently a matter of deep concern.'' ''773 incidents have already occurred in 2019 till date. Correspondingly, the death toll rose from 36 in 2016 to 96 in 2018 while 26 deaths have already taken place in 2019 till date,'' said the letter.
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The advisory stated that “the continued trend of political violence from 2016 through 2019, as evident from the above figures, is indicative of the failure on the part of the law enforcement machinery of the state to maintain the rule of law and to inspire a sense of security among the people”.
The BJP has already been claiming that the law and order situation in the state has completely broken down, demanding Centre's attention.
“The government of India is seriously concerned over the prevalent situation in West Bengal,'' said the MHA letter dispatched on Saturday. It has asked the Mamata government to send a report on the steps taken by the state government and its law enforcement machinery to investigate the incidents of violence to bring the culprits to book as also the measures taken to contain and curb violence.
On the matter of the ongoing strike by doctors, the MHA has said in a separate advisory that it has received a number of representations from doctors, health care professionals and medical associations from different parts of country, expressing concern over their safety and security in view of the ongoing strike by doctors in West Bengal. ''It is requested that a detailed report be sent urgently on the representations and ongoing strike by the doctors,'' it said .
The TMC is expected to once again cry foul over the fresh set of communications from the MHA. Party secretary general and West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee has already claimed that the MHA is drawing conclusions without verifying the ground reality or taking a report from the state government.
The TMC had asked the MHA to withdraw its earlier advisory, but the new set of letters is expected to drive the Centre and state on a collision path.
Sources in the government said the practice in the MHA is to study the reports sent by the state government, if any, and if despite repeated advisories it is unable to contain the law and order situation, a report can be sought from the governor. However, extreme steps are normally avoided once the state government concerned takes note of the central advisory and informs the Centre of all possible steps being taken to contain the violence and bring the culprits to book.
