West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Monday. His visit came amid unabated post-poll violence in West Bengal.
“My visit to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister was a courtesy call. I just informed them of the general situation in the state,” Tripathi told reporters after the meeting.
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The Governor, however, declined to reveal more details.
Before the meeting with the PM, the Governor said that it was a courtesy visit.
“I had asked to meet the PM either on June 9-10 or June 14-15 as I couldn’t wish him personally on the swearing-in day, it’s a courtesy visit,” he told reporters.
Tripathi, whose tenure will end on 23 July, had a 20-minute long meeting with Shah.
His meeting with the PM and the Home Minister came on the day West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a state-level administrative review meeting in Howrah.
In the last 15 days, over a dozen people including supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Trinamool Congress party, have lost their lives in violence in the state.
The Mamata Banerjee-led government told the Centre that “firm and appropriate actions” were initiated in case of a few “stray post-poll clashes” in the state.
The government was responding to a Ministry of Home Affairs advisory to West Bengal.
Four people had recently lost their lives in post-poll clashes in Bhangipara, Hatgacha in North 24 Parganas.
“It’s strongly advised to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to maintain law and order, peace and public tranquillity. It’s also requested to take strict action against officials found delinquent in the discharge of their duty,” said the MHA advisory to West Bengal Government.
In response, Bengal government’s Chief Secretary Malay Kumar De claimed that the clashes were perpetrated by “some anti-social elements”.
“The situation is under control and it may not be construed under any circumstance to be a failure on the part of law enforcement machinery of the state to maintain the rule of law and impute confidence among the people,” the Bengal government letter said.
The Trinamool Congress further accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of “using the Ministry for political conspiracy”.
The party further accused the BJP of creating disturbance and killing its workers in West Bengal.
The BJP had on Sunday accused the TMC workers of killing three of its workers during the clashes that broke out on Saturday in the Najat area of Basirhat’s Sandeshkhali.
BJP leader Mukul Roy had on Saturday directly blamed Banerjee for the clashes.
In another incident, several BJP workers and police personnel were injured on Saturday after clashes broke out between the two sides over a victory rally being taken out by the saffron party at Gangarampur area of North Dinajpur district.
Mamata Banerjee had on Thursday said victory rallies will not be allowed by any party in West Bengal, including that of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
