Adhikari accuses CM Mamata of driving a wedge between BSF, police

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari Thursday accused West Bengal Chief Minister of driving a wedge between BSF, whose jurisdiction was recently increased by the Centre, and the state police despite having taken the oath that she would have allegiance to the Constitution and drew the attention of the prime minister and union minister to it.

Adhikari also urged West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to take cognizance of the utterances of the Trinamool Congress supremo with regard to the BSF and take up the issue with the president.

TMC refused to give any importance to what Adhikari said and said he was free to move the United Nations on it.

 

Banerjee at her administrative meetings in North Dinajpur on Tuesday had asked the police in the districts of the state that share borders with neighbouring countries to keep a watch on activities of the BSF in the wake of the killing of 13 civilians by security forces in Nagaland in a botched anti-insurgency operation last week.

She had also directed the police to not allow the Border Security Force to breach its earmarked jurisdiction.

Adhikari, her one time protege and now bete noire, tweeted that he wondered "How, the Chief Minister of a State, bound by the oath taken by her, to bear true faith and allegiance towards the Constitution of India & supposed to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India; could repeatedly malign @BSF_India, who are assigned to do just that."

Drawing the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, the BJP leader said "She is a repeat offender, wilfully trying to drive a wedge between @BSF_India & @WBPolice."

"Kindly request @PMOIndia, @HMOIndia, @DefenceMinIndia to take this into cognizance. WB Governor @jdhankhar1 ji, please apprise Hon'ble @rashtrapatibhvn regarding this matter," Adhikari, the leader of the opposition added.

At the administrative meeting, Banerjee had said , "... BSF personnel enter our villages and then we get complaints about harassment. They go to several places that are beyond their jurisdiction without informing the police."

Senior TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy when contacted told PTI, "The CM being the administrative head has done the right thing by flagging the issue of BSF atrocities against villagers in many border villages of the country, including Bengal and Punjab at the meeting and alerting the police."

Attaching little importance to Adhikari's tweets tagging the functionaries of the union government and Dhankhar along with a video of the chief minister's meeting where she made the comment, he said "Anyone is free to take up the matter with whoever he likes. Why doesn't he move the United Nations?"

During the day Dhankhar, who has had many run ins with the government in the past, said Banerjee's reported directive to the state police to ensure that the BSF does not cross its jurisdiction of 15 km from the international border is "potentially alarming" for national security.

In a letter to the chief minister, Dhankhar urged the chief minister to take appropriate steps urgently and address the issue in public and national interest.