Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is likely to submit his report to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the state of affairs in Bengal when he meets him in New Delhi on Saturday.
Though there was no disclosure from the Governor’s office on the agenda of Saturday’s meeting, some sources said that the two leaders could discuss the politically volatile situation in Bengal which is going to polls a few months from now.
The Governor who has been highly critical of the way the Bengal Government functions and who has often expressed his apprehensions about possible bloodshed in the coming elections, may talk in favour of bringing additional number of central forces than what is usually required for an election in the State, sources said.
Dhankhar may also speak in favour of hastening up the imposition of model code of conduct so as to bring the allegedly deteriorating law and order situation in the State under control, sources said referring to his statement a couple of days ago when he said that there was a need to improve the reputation of Bengal as a poll-bound state.
On whether the Saturday’s meeting has anything to do with what transpired between him and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee when she paid an “unscheduled” visit at Raj Bhavan holding an hour-long meeting with Dhankhar a couple of days ago, officials said “the two are different issues and may not be related.”
The Governor has not only been critical of the State’s alleged deteriorating law and order situation but he also alleged how the bureaucrats of Bengal had become politically henpecked. He earlier said how a number of IPS and other officers were acting as politicalservants of a particular political outfit (read Trinamool Congress)instead of acting as servants of Constitution.
Dhankhar’s meeting with the Home Minister is likely to coincide with BJP national president JP Nadda’s second visit to Bengal when he will hold a road show at erstwhile Left bastion of Burdwan, some 75 miles from Kolkata.
Nadda is likely to launch a campaign christened “ek mutho chaal” (a handful of rice), party sources said adding he will visit the residences of farmers where he will accept “anna daan” (accepting grains) from them. Nadda will also hold a “Krishak Suraksha Gram Sabha” (village meet on farmers’ safety) at Katwa town in the same district.
Meanwhile, the State police administration on Friday withdrew permission of Nadda’s road show down CS Road in Burdwan sensing security problems, sources said adding the administration had offered to five permission for road show via GT Road instead.
Elsewhere the BJP leaders Kailash Vijaybargiya, Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikary on Friday held a massive rally at Nandigram from where they said vowed to bring Parivartan of Parivartan (change of change) in apparent reference to the political change brought in 2011 by Mamata Banerjee overthrowing the Left Front Government.
Saying that the movement against Tata Nano plant at Singur in which he too had taken part with the Chief Minister was a big blunder, Roy said that “after we come to power in Bengal we will jointly appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return the Tata company to the State.”
Attacking the Chief Minister for failing the people of Nandigram where 14 people had died in a police firing while they were taking part in a land movement in 2007, Vijaybargiya said that “the officers who were involved in the firing were now members of the Trinamool Congress… instead of sending them to jail as promised the Chief Minister has made them her friends.”
