Left Front seeks Governor's intervention in West Bengal polls

KOLKATA: CPI(M)-led opposition Left Front today met West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan and sought his active intervention for ensuring free, fair and peaceful panchayat elections in the state.

"Law and order is deteriorating rapidly all over the state and situation is not at all conducive for democratic functioning with the panchayat election heading towards an uncertain future," Front chairman Biman Bose told reporters after meeting the Governor at Raj Bhavan.

Alleging that the Mamata Banerjee government was not responsive to the present situation "where rape and murder is a daily affair across the state," he said that "all the Front partners are of the view that (the) Governor's intervention is needed to resolve the crisis at this hour for holding free and fair panchayat polls."

Bose said that the Governor seemed to be "not well informed by the state government of the happenings which are disturbing for the democracy lovers."

The Front delegation also submitted to him a detailed report on law and order, violent incidents centering the panchayat poll process, armed resistance to nomination filing by Left candidates, attack on opposition party workers, besides alarming reports of rapes and murders, he said.

"We gave him a report of 1,500 incidents which concern law and order," he said.

Bose alleged that permission was denied to the Left Front for celebrating the anniversary of the installation of the first Left Front government in the state at Calcutta University Institute hall on June 21 "at the last moment."

Claiming that all preparations were made to celebrate the anniversary of first Left Front government when the denial was intimated to them, Bose said "we will have to resort to movement if no satisfactory reason is given."

"In the recent past too, we have noted with concern that while the ruling Trinamool Congress is allowed to hold rallies in the city, the authorities deny such permission to the Left Front. We strongly protest such discriminatory attitude," he said.

Bose criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for visiting Kamduni village near Barasat, where a college girl was gangraped and brutally murdered, after 10 days of the incident.

"It is strange that the Chief Minister did not express any regret and seemed to be not at all moved by the macabre incident at Kamduni village," he alleged.