2 min readKolkataMay 27, 2016 04:27 AM IST
First published on: May 27, 2016 at 04:27 AM IST
TMC mla Shilbhdra Dutta (ext left) along with other TMC leader handed over party office key towards left leaders at Barrackpore . Express photo.
As incidents of post-poll violence continues in the state, the Trinamool Congress on Thursday seemingly offered an olive branch to the Opposition, when a party delegation — led by Mukul Roy loyalist Shilbhadra Dutta — “escorted” CPM workers to their party office at Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas.
The moves comes amid reports of Trinamool cadres attacking Opposition workers, their offices and residences. On Tuesday, a Left-Congress delegation had submitted a memorandum to Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi on the matter, prompting him to shoot off a letter to Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, asking her to take strict action.
Mamata’s response was prompt. Sources said she instructed MPs Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari to take immediate action in the matter.
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Dutta, who was removed from the post of Trinamool parliamentary secretary as a result of Roy’s earlier rift with Mamata, said: “The chief minister has repeatedly made it clear that no such incident should take place. These men, who the local CPM were afraid of, were not our men. But we reached out to them nonetheless. We promised to escort them to their office in Barrackpore.”
“We didn’t want them to feel threatened. The role of the Opposition in a democracy is sacrosanct and we don’t want anyone to feel afraid when we are in power,” he added.
CPM MP Mohammad Salim, however, termed the move a “farce” aimed at attempting to “clean Trinamool’s tarnished image”.
“They have realised that they can’t control their own troops and are now attempting to try and win some people over by doing this. Some people are trying to go one up over others and it’s ridiculous. Trinamool Congress doesn’t believe in democracy,” Salim said.
TMC mla Shilbhdra Dutta (ext left) along with other TMC leader handed over party office key towards left leaders at Barrackpore . Express photo.
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