Babul Supriyo indicates President’s Rule an option, TMC hits back

Union Minister Babul Supriyo on Friday said there were provisions in the Constitution to “take care of” violence in West Bengal. (File photo)

Hinting at the imposition of President’s Rule in West Bengal, Union Minister Babul Supriyo on Friday said there were provisions in the Constitution to “take care of” violence in the state. Speaking to a regional news channel, the BJP leader claimed more than 130 of the saffron party’s workers in the state had been killed in violence perpetrated by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the ruling party.

“The TMC must mend its ways and stop its atrocities on our workers. Only a few months are left for Assembly polls. If the TMC workers think that they can intimidate voters and continue with political violence, then there are provisions in the Constitution to take care of such things,” Supriyo told the news channel.

The minister claimed that people had made up their mind to vote for the BJP in next year’s elections.

His party colleague and state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said atrocities being faced by party workers were forcing some BJP leaders to speak about the imposition of President’s Rule.

“This is nothing new as violence is continuing unabated in the state and especially on our workers. Our active party workers are being killed, false cases are being slapped for protesting such deaths and now police action is being initiated to stifle our voice. The administration and police are trying to intimidate us by force. This is the reason why some of our leaders are speaking in favour of President’s Rule. However, we want to win the election in a democratic way and not by using Article 356,” Ghosh said.

The TMC dared the Opposition party to impose President’s Rule. “If they have the guts then let them impose it in the state. I challenge them to impose President’s Rule here,” said state minister Bratya Basu.

TMC MP Saugata Roy said, “If Babul Supriyo is talking about the imposition of Article 356 in Bengal, then he should first talk about the imposition of President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh, where rule of law has ceased
to exist.”

Responding to Supriyo’s allegations, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, said, “He knows nothing about the law. He is a singer and let him sing. I dare them to impose President’s Rule in West Bengal.”

CPI(M) MLA Sujan Chakraborty said both the TMC and the BJP were helping each other ahead of the Assembly elections by making such comments.

“We all know that the TMC is going to lose the 2021 Assembly Polls in the state and such statements ahead of the elections will give more oxygen to the TMC. Once again it is proved that the BJP and the TMC are helping
each other.”

State Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “The Election Commission conducts polls. It is an independent institution which will look after all the aspects before holding the polls. These are some provocative statements being made by BJP leaders to energise their workers. If the situation is indeed grim, the Home Ministry should have imposed President’s Rule by now.”

During his visit to the state earlier this month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “President’s Rule cannot be discussed in a public place like this, but I feel that it will not be required as BJP is anyway going to form the government with a very big margin after April next year.”

On September 28, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar warned the state administration that he would be forced to look at Article 154 of the Constitution, which mandates that the executive power of the state shall be vested in the Governor.

“I have to act if the Constitution is not protected. It is unfortunate that the office of the Governor has been ignored. Under such circumstances, I will be forced to look at Article 154 of the Constitution,” he said.

On September 28, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar warned the state administration that he would be forced to look at Article 154 of the Constitution, which mandates that the executive power of the state shall be vested in the Governor.

“I have to act if the Constitution is not protected. It is unfortunate that the office of the Governor has been ignored.

Under such circumstances, I will be forced to look at Article 154 of the Constitution,” he said.