Kolkata, Jan 20 (PTI): The Indian Army’s Eastern Command has sought the intervention of West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s claim that a senior army officer at Fort William was working on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls at the behest of the BJP.
According to a senior Lok Bhavan official, two Army generals from Fort William met Governor Bose last week and submitted a communication objecting to Banerjee’s allegations. Bose has reportedly taken serious note of the matter and has escalated it to the Centre.
“The army officers spoke to the Governor and requested his intervention. The Army is peeved with the chief minister’s recent remarks suggesting that a commandant was working for the BJP while posted at Fort William,” the official told PTI.
Banerjee, during a press conference on January 13 from Nabanna, claimed, “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.”
Following the Lok Bhavan meeting, Governor Bose reportedly approached the Defence Ministry and highlighted the seriousness of the issue. Bose had earlier said, “Let me first verify for myself what she said. If this violates any constitutional propriety, I will certainly intervene.”
A senior Fort William official confirmed the meeting: “Two of our officers met the honourable governor recently regarding the comments made by the honourable chief minister of West Bengal. They discussed the issue, and the governor assured them that he would look into the matter.”
Banerjee’s remarks have ignited political tensions in poll-bound Bengal, where the ongoing SIR exercise has already created sharp divisions between the ruling TMC and the BJP, with the Left and Congress also in the fray.
Responding to Banerjee, BJP Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya said, “Mamata Banerjee thinks she can say anything because she considers herself 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.”
CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim called the allegation “a serious issue” and urged the chief minister to pursue the matter formally, write to the Defence Minister, and substantiate her claims
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Category: Breaking News
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