By IANS,
Kolkata : Sharpening its criticism of the West Bengal governor on the issue of political violence, the state’s ruling Left Front (LF) Sunday alleged that Gopal Krishna Gandhi was bracketing the killers with the killed.
Answering queries from the media about a letter written to him by Gandhi on the Left Front’s sharp attacks on the governor, LF chairman Biman Bose said: “We asked him why he was bracketing the killers and those who were killed in several violent attacks in the state. But he didn’t answer that specific question in his letter.”
Bose said he would not reply to the governor’s missive.
“In the letter, he (the governor) said he’s already made his stand clear to the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in a letter. He said I can get the required information from Bhattacharjee. But I didn’t seek to know anything from the chief minister,” Bose said.
Gandhi has neither said he was impartial nor has he mentioned he was biased in the letter, he said.
The latest round of conflict between the LF and Gandhi began Aug 6 after the governor came out with a strong press statement on political violence in the state.
The governor had observed that the state was witnessing a “veritable tandava (Lord Shiva’s dance of destruction in Hindu mythology) of political violence” and remarked that the problem continued “because, I believe, those who can act are not doing so.”
Flaying the governor, the LF Aug 7 asked him to “exhibit more apparent neutrality” while making public statements.
Going a step further, CPI-M central committee member Shyamal Chakraborty said the governor was “biased”.
Gandhi then shot off two letters to the chief minister and Bose. In his missive to Bhattacharjee, Gandhi attached his statements on various issues in the past to refute the allegations of bias.
The communists have had frequent run-ins with Gandhi over the past couple of years over his public statements on issues like Nandigram.
The CPI-M had also criticised the governor’s decision when he observed a symbolic one-hour power cut at the Raj Bhavan in the wake of frequent electricity disruptions in the state.
The state has been rocked by political violence after the April-May Lok Sabha polls that saw the debacle of the ruling combination at the hands of the Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance.