New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram here to discuss the political violence in his state, and said the Trinamool Congress was openly working with Maoists.
"This morning I have met Chidambaram and right now I am coming from the Prime Minister`s residence," Bhattacharjee said at a press conference here.
"I told them about the dangerous situation that the Trinamool is joining hands with the Maoists and their outfits. Earlier, they were secretively meeting and contacting them, now they are doing it openly. We confirmed it from many sources, from the Maoists leaders that we have arrested."
"There have been instances where Trinamool workers have taken Maoists injured in blasts to hospitals. They carry them from one place to another. This is a serious problem. In the last one month, they have organised two public meetings jointly," he added.
The Trinamool is an ally of the ruling Congress at the Centre.
"The Naxal movement started in our state in early 1967 and continued up to 1971 and we could defeat them administratively and politically," Bhattacharjee told reporters.
He said the Naxal problem has come again, but this time it is not from Naxalbari in West Bengal but from states like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkand.
The Union Home Ministry had written to the Chief Minister requesting him to visit New Delhi to discuss the law and order situation in the poll-bound state following the January 7 killings of nine people in political violence at Netai village in the Maoist stronghold of West Midnapore district.
Bhattacharjee arrived here Tuesday to discuss the political situation in the state, particularly the state`s ruling CPI-M`s allegation that Trinamool Congress workers have links with Maoists in West Bengal.
IANS
