Army commandant at Fort William working on SIR at BJP's behest, alleges Mamata

Kolkata, Jan 13 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Tuesday that an officer of the rank of commandant at Fort William, the Eastern Command headquarters of the Indian Army, was working on the SIR exercise at the behest of the BJP.

Without elucidating further details on the identity of the officer concerned, the chief minister claimed that the Army personnel was using the command base to carry out political activities in the wake of the controversial SIR of electoral rolls in the state.

"I have information that a commandant at Fort William is working on SIR to lend support to the BJP. He is sitting there and doing the work of the BJP party office. I request them with folded hands to desist from such activities," Banerjee said while addressing a press conference from the state secretariat, Nabanna.

Governor CV Ananda Bose responded by stating he will intervene in the matter after confirming what the chief minister said.

"Let me first verify for myself what she said. If this violates any constitutional propriety, I will certainly intervene," Bose said.

In an already charged political atmosphere in the state, Banerjee's comment triggered sharp political reactions from across party lines.

"Mamata Banerjee can say anything. She is a poet and a painter. She even changed the course of a cyclone that was supposed to hit Kharagpur. She thinks of herself as the President of West Bengal.

"She doesn't consider West Bengal a state within India; she thinks of Bengal as a sovereign nation and herself its president," Samik Bhattacharya, president of the BJP's Bengal unit, sarcastically said when asked to respond to Banerjee's remarks.

Calling Banerjee's allegation a "serious issue", CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim said the chief minister must pursue the truth behind this, write to the Defence Minister and prove the truth in her statement.

"This is an absolutely serious issue. We must find out the truth behind this allegation. Normally, we don't bring defense forces into this political debate. But Mamata Banerjee is not only her party's chief, she also holds the chair of the state's highest administrator. So, instead of making that allegation before the media, she should have first written to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who is her old acquaintance," Salim told PTI video.

Salim said the CM could, alternatively, also have taken the matter up through proper administrative channels by asking her chief secretary to write to the GOC-In-C of Eastern Command who maintains close operational liaison.

"Under our Constitutional scheme of things, neither the defence forces should be utilised for political purposes nor should the state administration create a debate on the performance of the forces. But the SIR is also a serious matter, and people are suffering in Bengal, as also elsewhere.

"So if this is true, then the Government of India and the President of India who is the chief of our armed forces should take it very seriously. Else, Mamata Banerjee must prove that there is some iota of truth in this allegation," Salim added. PTI SMY NN