Law & order not broken down in entire Bengal, says gov Bose

‘Goons control substantial areas, violence can’t be entirely blamed on TMC govt’

Kolkata, April 7: Noting that law and order have not broken down in entire West Bengal, governor C.V. Ananda Bose has said that violence in parts of the state cannot be entirely blamed on the present Trinamul Congress government as it could be due to “legacy of the past”.

Speaking to PTI in an exclusive interview at Raj Bhavan, Mr Bose, who has been at loggerheads with chief minister Mamata Banerjee over several issues, also said that their perceptions may differ but they maintain a “pleasant decorum”.

Mr Bose, who describes his ongoing stint in West Bengal as a “fact-finding and data-gathering time for him”, added that the law and order have not broken down in the entire state but claimed that goons control substantial areas.

“In Sandeshkhali, what I saw is that the women wanted peace with honour, but their honour was in pieces. That was the disquieting situation that mars the landscape in West Bengal. This is confined to certain pockets but the number is rising. That is the issue. Therefore I will not say that in entire West Bengal, the law and order has broken down but there are substantial areas where goons are in control,” Mr Bose said.

The governor, however, did not attribute the entire violence in pockets of the state to the present Trinamul Congress government and said that it was a “legacy of the past”.

He referred to the “rotten and pocket boroughs”, the 19th-century parliamentary borough or constituency in England, and said, “Rotten boroughs were created artificially for electioneering. Now, I find there is a reiteration of this here. In some places, there is ‘goonda raj’.”

“And the elected government did not take adequate steps to contain it (Sandeshkhali atrocities). I do not attribute the entire violence that is there in certain pockets of Bengal, to the present government. It came as a legacy of the past. But the government in power had the duty to quell it, that is not being done,” Mr Bose said.

Asked about his equation with Ms Banerjee and how he would describe her way of functioning, Bose said that on many issues they have “decided to agree to disagree”.

In Sandeshkhali, what I saw is that the women wanted peace with honour, but their honour was in pieces. That was the disquieting situation that mars the landscape.

— C.V. Ananda Bose, West Bengal governor