Hours after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram expressed unhappiness over the law and order situation in Bengal,the Mamata Banerjee government slammed his comments as unethical and unjustified and said such remarks were made to supply oxygen to CPM that extended support to Pranab Mukherjees candidature. Chidambaram and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal were here Thursday to interact with the regional media regarding UPA-IIs achievements. The event turned out to be an aggressive campaign for the UPA-II with doses of criticism for the Trinamool government,and praise for the earlier Left government. Political killings are taking place in Bengal. This is not a healthy sign of democracy, Chidambaram said. Most of these incidents are due to inter-party clashes. Reacting to his comments,state Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said: The Congress is attempting to mount pressure on us ahead of the Presidential election. This is a part of it. The Union Home Minister should know that law and order is a state subject and it cannot be discussed even in Parliament. Countering Chidambaram,Mukherjee said 62 political killings took place in the first five months of 2011 when the Left was in power. In the first five months of this year,only five political killings took place. Chidambaram's comment is not only unethical but also in bad taste. If required,we will send a written rejoinder to the Centre. Such a comment exposes the relation between the CPM and the Congress, he added.
