Unbecoming for West Bengal Governor to bring up post-poll violence at Mamata Banerjee’s swearing in ceremony

Goebbelsian tactics seem to have come alive in West Bengal with the RSS and BJP pushing a divisive narrative that the state has been in the midst of a ‘communal war’ like situation.

Coinciding with the occasion of the swearing in of Mamata Banerjee as chief minister, two more events took place. One that took place in Raj Bhawan was more politically noteworthy.

Going beyond the constitutional practices and norms, just after the swearing ceremony, Governor Jagdeep Dhankar used the occasion to tell Mamata that he was extremely concerned at reports of post poll violence.

Dhankhar sent out a sharp message to her on the issue. “In our Constitution, the law has the highest position and we should maintain that. We should immediately take necessary action and send relief to the victims’ families. I have every hope that the Chief Minister on an urgent basis will take all the steps to restore the rule of law”.

The oath was administered at a low-key ceremony at Raj Bhawan held amid the raging COVID pandemic. The Left Front and the BJP boycotted the ceremony.

Dhankhar said such senseless violence shames democracy. Such collapse of law and order will neither be overlooked nor allowed, he said, adding that the Prime Minister had called him up and expressed his serious anguish and concern at the alarmingly worrisome law & order situation.

Dhankar has the reputation of behaving like a BJP leader and adopting a confrontationist attitude towards Mamata and her government. But using this solemn occasion was deprecated not only by the political circles but even by the people of the state. It was perceived as a naked attempt by the BJP leadership to humiliate her.

On her part, Mamata did not take it lying low. She said that for three months the Election Commission was running the state administration and it was the EC’s responsibility to check the violence.

Mamata said after being sworn in, “My first priority is to control COVID. I am now going to Nabanna (state administration headquarter). There I will hold a meeting with my officers and will take necessary measures to control COVID immediately. I will address media again this evening.”

“There is some sporadic violence after the election. We have to control that with a strong hand. In the last two months, the administration system was run by the Election Commission. There was some inefficiency. We have to change the whole setup immediately,” she further added.

Mamata Banerjee contended that that violence and clashes were taking place in those areas where the BJP had won the elections and most of the videos of violence being shared on social media were either fake or old.

She said: "I have noticed that violence and clashes are taking place in those areas where the BJP has won the elections. These places can be seen as black spots. Barring some sporadic incidents, most were fake. BJP is showing old videos.”

She even said to the BJP “You have been torturing people since the elections and now, stop this. Or else, law will take its course. “

Even after being aware that EC has been responsible for running the state administration, the Home Ministry has written to the state government accusing it of not taking steps to stem the violence and asked why a report sought by it has not been submitted yet.

The Home Ministry has asked the state government to take all measures necessary to stop the violence. “The letter has also said that if the situation report is not received at once, it will be viewed seriously,” an official said.

Incidentally, the state BJP, which has already launched a vitriolic campaign against Mamata on the alleged escalation of violence, organised an oath taking ceremony against 'Politics of Hate' in the presence of its national president JP Nadda at its office in Calcutta.

It is noteworthy that even as the polling process was on, BJP leaders including UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had threatened the TMC cadres to wait till May 2, the day of the counting, after which the TMC workers would be thrashed.

Its state chief Dilip Ghosh had warned them to get ready for ‘treatment’. Its national general secretary Rahul Sinha opined that in Shitalkuchi the CISF should have killed 8 TMC cadres instead of gunning only four. Other senior BJP leaders too have been going around threatening the TMC workers.

Intriguingly, its senior leader Swapan Dasgupta, a fairly senior journalist who had held many senior positions in the media before joining politics, tweeted that thousands of Hindus are taking shelter in open fields in Birbhum district. In his enthusiasm to serve the divisive politics of his bosses, he even ignored the basic tenet of journalism to check and cross check.

The incident was denied by the police.

It indeed came as a surprise that people who were engineering violence were taking ‘oath’ against ‘politics of hatred’. All the newly elected BJP legislators took an oath against 'politics of hate'. Nadda in his address to the MLAs told that the ‘oath-taking’ by BJP MLAs was a mark of respect to accept the people's mandate in the West Bengal elections and also highlight post-poll violence allegedly by TMC goons.

Nadda also stated that the opposition is boycotting Mamata Banerjee's oath-taking ceremony to protest against the violence. In addition, he said that the saffron party will 'dismantle' political violence in West Bengal.

Incidentally, besides the Home Ministry, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) too have also raised concerns over the violence and sought an inquiry.

(IPA Service)

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