Kolkata, Jan 17 (IANS) A political slugfest has surfaced in West Bengal over the tension in Beldanga of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Saturday after the alleged murder of a migrant worker from the district in Jharkhand.

While all the opposition parties in the state, including Bharatiya Janata Party, CPI(M) and Congress have lashed out against the Mamata government and described the developments as a total administrative collapse in the state, the Trinamool Congress termed it as a result of “well-organised conspiracy” to instigate people in the district.

According to BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra, the politics practised by Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Banerjee seems to be a renewed exercise to “separate West Bengal from the country”.

“The extent of appeasement politics in West Bengal has reached such a stage that it seems that the legal system of the country is not applicable in West Bengal. Is West Bengal not a part of India? All the constitutional provisions and democratic practices are trampled in West Bengal,” Patra said.

Youth CPI(M) leader and the party’s state committee member, Sataraup Ghosh, said that “lawlessness” in West Bengal has reached an extreme stage, as “lawbreakers knew that their patrons are at the helm of state administration and hence they could have a free ride all through”.

“This situation in West Bengal is a typical case of complete collapse of the law and order situation because of a totally inactive state government whose only purpose is to back the anti-social elements,” Ghosh said.

Former state Congress president and five-time Lok Sabha member from the same district, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said that while the atrocities of the migrant workers from West Bengal are undoubtedly condemnable, that does not mean that the protests against this issue will turn into utter hooliganism.

“It is quite unfortunate that our Chief Minister, instead of taking administrative action against the hooligans, is rather tacitly supporting such hooliganism. The journalists are being beaten up, and the Chief Minister is advising the journalists to stay away from the mob,” Chowdhury said.

Trinamool Congress spokesman, Arup Chakraborty, said that while the administration and police would definitely take steps to bring the situation under control, there is surely a “well-organised conspiracy to instigate people in the district. Some people are hunting for bodies so that they can do politics over it.”

Meanwhile, police on Saturday resorted to baton charging to disperse the mob and lift the blockades.

–IANS

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