MHA asks Bengal to give security to 61 BJP leaders, TMC slams order

NEW DELHI: The Centre has directed the West Bengal government to accord security cover to 61 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including actor Mithun Chakraborty and Lok Sabha MP Arjun Singh, at whose residence three crude bombs were hurled early on Wednesday.

In a communication to the state chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) on August 31, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said it decided to provide police protection to the 61 leaders after examining their security arrangements and holding consultations with central agencies.

Besides Chakraborty and Singh, the BJP leaders for whom the MHA has sought state police cover include party state vicepresident Mafuja Khatun, Bishnapur MP Saumitra Khan, former Indian Police Service officer Bharti Ghosh, Purulia MP Jyortirmay Mahto, actor-turnedpolitician Joy Mukherjee, party president of South 24 Parganas district Abhijit Das, former cricketer-turned-politician Ashok Dinda, and party leaders Shankudeb Panda and Lokenath Chatterjee.

“It is impossible for any political leader or activist other than that of TMC to work in Bengal right now because they are attacked in front of the police and that’s why all these leaders need protection,” state BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.

Responding to the developments, TMC Rajya Sabha member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said that by sending the letter, the Union government had transgressed into the powers of the state. “Law and order is a state subject. It is not the state’s responsibility to provide security to these people just because they belong to the ruling party at the Centre,” he said.

Of the 61 leaders, several were already granted personal security by the CISF and CRPF in the wake of post-poll violence in May.

The MHA communication, however, carried no mention of withdrawing the existing security cover provided to the leaders by central forces.