Bengal Left MPs meet PM, President on floods, law and order

The Prime Minister indicated to the delegation that West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, who is arriving here on Saturday, would discuss the flood situation with him during his visit to the Capital.

The MPs later met President K.R. Narayanan and submitted a five-page memorandum, apprising him of the large-scale devastation wrecked by the unprecedented floods in the state. The memorandum also mentioned the raging issue of the “law and order situation” in the state.

A shorter version of the memorandum was also given to the Prime Minister in which the Left MPs directly accused Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for “instigating violence in the state” and for “spending nearly all her time away from the Ministry she is heading”.

“We would not have raised it (the law and order issue) now, had it not been for the visits (to West Bengal) of George Fernandes and Bangaru Laxman to make a case for Central intervention,” CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Biplab Dasgupta said. Vajpayee, it seems, had brushed off the reports by the two senior politicians as inconsequential.

Briefing the press outside Rashtraparti Bhavan, the MPs said the President had expressed deep concern of the recent developments, especially the large-scale devastation caused by the floods.

The MPs also reiterated their request for a grant of Rs 962 crore in order to combat the calamity. “Despite our appeals the Central Government is yet to release any funds,” RSP MP Abani Roy said.

Apart from Dasgupta and Roy, Debabrata Biswas and Ajoy Chakraborty and Laxman Seth were also part of the MPs’ team.