Malda violence: BJP delegation meets President, slams TMC govt

Charred remains of vehicles after violence in Malda, West Bengal.

New Delhi: Stepping up the heat on the Mamata Banerjee government over the Malda violence, BJP on Saturday took the matter to the President's doorstep and requested him to seek an independent report from the Governor on the issue.

The party accused the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal of promoting vote bank politics by protecting those involved in Malda violence and said that it posed a threat to national security.

A BJP delegation, led by party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and other central and state leaders, met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a memorandum. 

The party alleged inaction on part of the state government on the Malda violence and claimed that the TMC government's policy of 'appeasement and vote bank' politics posed a threat to national security. They also raised the issue of violence in Birbhum in West Bengal.

The delegation also presented another memorandum to the President on the inaction on the part of WB government in arresting the accused in the hit-and-run case involving the son of a TMC leader who killed an Air Force jawan while he was rehearsing for the Republic Day parade in Kolkata.

"The Malda incident is linked to the country's internal security... This vote bank politics poses a threat to internal security as the same mob also raised pro-Pakistan slogans.

That is why we have requested the President to seek his own report from the Governor and the report sought by the central government from the state will help stop the threat caused to the country's internal security," Vijayvargiya told reporters after meeting the President.

He added that BJP is pained to know the West Bengal chief minister saying people had problems with BSF and that is why the violence took place.

"Why was the police station burnt? The reality is that it was burnt as all those leading that violent clash are linked with fake currency and opium cultivation and are anti-social elements who burnt the police station to put an end to their criminal activities.

"Unfortunately, all those are being protected by Mamata Banerjee. A number of TMC leaders are involved in such activities and there is vote bank politics played there. The minority community there is somewhere linked in all these

three incidents and due to this vote bank politics, the West Bengal chief minister is not acting against them," he added.

BJP Secretary Siddhharth Nath Singh and WB BJP President Dilip Ghosh and former state president Rahul Sinha were also part of the delegation.