Post-poll violence: Centre warns Bengal govt, asks to submit report

In a letter dispatched on Wednesday, the home ministry reminded the West Bengal chief secretary that on May 3, it had sought an immediate report from the state government on the post-poll violence.

New Delhi: The home ministry dispatched a terse reminder to the West Bengal government on Wednesday to submit a detailed report on the post-poll violence in the state, warning it that the matter will be taken "seriously" in case it fails to do so, and asked it to take necessary measures to stop such incidents "without any loss of time", officials said.

In a letter dispatched on Wednesday, the home ministry reminded the West Bengal chief secretary that on May 3, it had sought an immediate report from the state government on the post-poll violence.

However, the West Bengal government is yet to send the report, the officials said.

According to latest inputs, the violence has not stopped in West Bengal and this means that effective measures were not taken by the state government to control it, the letter said.

Therefore, necessary steps should be taken to prevent these incidents without any loss of time, it added.

A detailed report should be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) immediately, it said.

In case the report is not sent by the state government, the matter will be taken seriously, the letter added.

After the third straight convincing victory for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, following a charged Assembly election campaign, West Bengal witnessed a number of violent incidents since Sunday, when the results were announced.

At least six people were killed in post-poll violence in different parts of the state till Tuesday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that TMC-backed goons have killed a number of its workers, attacked its women members, vandalised houses, looted shops of its members and ransacked its offices.

Claiming that at least 14 BJP workers were killed and nearly one lakh people fled their homes in post-poll violence in West Bengal, party president J P Nadda alleged on Wednesday that the chief minister's silence speaks of her involvement.

Banerjee rejected the charges, saying violence and clashes were taking place in those areas where the BJP candidates emerged victorious in the election.

Speaking to reporters at state secretariat Nabanna after taking oath, the chief minister also claimed that most of the videos of violence being shared on social media are either fake or old.

"I have noticed that violence and clashes are taking place in those areas where the BJP have won the elections. These places can be seen as black spots," she said.

Banerjee said when these incidents happened, law and order in the state was under the Election Commission (EC).

"Law and order in West Bengal deteriorated in the last three months. There were some sporadic incidents and not all were real, most were fake. The BJP is showing old videos," she said.

The TMC supremo said all the district magistrates (DMs) and superintendents of police (SPs) were asked to strictly deal with any emerging situation.

"If someone is found involved in any incident, we will deal with it very strictly. We are not going to tolerate any lawlessness here," she said.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned him and expressed anguish over the law-and-order situation in the state following reports of post-poll violence from several districts.

Banerjee had asked people on Sunday to show restraint and not indulge in any kind of violence.

PTI