West Bengal violence: MHA seeks report Governor on law and order in the state

New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry has asked West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar to give a report on the law and order situation in the state, said a PTI report. The state has witnessed violence following the announcement of Assembly election results last weekend.

"The Home Ministry had earlier asked the state government to submit a report but has not yet received it," the report said quoting officials. "The governor has been asked to assess the situation and submit his report to the ministry at the earliest," officials added.

The ministry has reportedly formed a four-member, headed by an Additional Secretary ranked officer, to investigate the post-poll violence. 

The four-member team including -- Additional Secretary Home Ministry Govind Mohan, Additional Secretary Education Ministry Vinit Joshi, Joint Director of Intelligence Bureau Janardan Singh, and IB Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) IB, Nalin -- has arrived in Kolkata to assess the ground situation, said an ANI report. 

On Wednesday, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to West Bengal Chief Secretary reminding him of the letter written on May 3 to check the post-poll violence and also to provide a report on the incidents.

Violence has been reported in several parts of West Bengal after the results of the assembly elections were declared on May 2. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that nine of its party workers have been killed in the post-poll violence, but the allegations have been denied by the Trinamool Congress (TMC). 

Newly elected MLAs of West Bengal sworn in

The swearing-in ceremony for the newly elected legislators in West Bengal got underway on Thursday morning, with pro-tem speaker Subrata Mukherjee administering the oath of office and secrecy to the MLAs.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended the ceremony for a short while before leaving for the state secretariat. The entire programme was held following COVID-19 protocols, an official said.

At least 143 MLAs -- most of them from the assembly constituencies of Kolkata, North- and South-24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Howrah, Hooghly and Jhargram -- are set to take oath on Thursday. Seventy-four of them would be sworn-in during the first half of the day, and the rest in the second half.

No BJP representative, however, took part on Thursday. The oath-taking ceremony will continue till Saturday.

The TMC has bagged 213 seats in the just-concluded West Bengal assembly elections, while its rival, the BJP, managed to pocket 77 constituencies. 

(With Agency Inputs)