By IANS
Kolkata : The central government has no plans to impose Article 356 in West Bengal, Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said Monday, even as he expressed concern over the situation in Nandigram.
Reacting to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s demand for imposition of Article 356 in the state, he said: “I don’t know what Mamata has said, but the situation does not warrant imposition of the president’s rule. Article 356 cannot be a remedy for all ills.”
“We are concerned about the situation in Nandigram. We want peace there. The state government should take adequate steps to bring peace in the area,” Jaiswal said here.
Commenting on armed assault on villagers in Nandigram allegedly by cadres of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the minister said, “No one should take law into their own hands, irrespective of political affiliations, and when this happens, violence takes place.”
Clashes in the region of Nandigram, 150 km from here, have claimed 34 lives since January.