West Bengal's Baduria remain tense, centre sought report

KOLKATA: Even as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Bengal Governor K N Tripathi are on the warpath over the communal flare up, the situation at Baduaria in Basirhat (North 24 Paragana) remains tense.

Reports of blocking roads in Kolkata and adjacent areas and rail tracks in North and south 24 Paragana district by BJP and other groups pour in. Meanwhile, the central government has sought a report on the situation in Baduaria.

TMC's secretary general and state parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said that the party has written a letter to the union home minister and submit a deputation to President Pranab Mukherjee protesting against Bengal governor's act of "overstepping his jurisdiction".

"A Governor cannot speak like the spokesperson of BJP. Governor House cannot be the party office of BJP. We have registered our protest against this kind of an act. We have noticed another aspect too. We had requisitioned central forces at 4.30 pm on Tuesday, though the force reached the spot in the evening. Why this delay? What kind of game is being played by BJP here?" asked Chatterjee.

However, BSF sources said that there had been no delay in sending the troops to the spot. "The protocol says that we must receive an order from the MHA. The troops started moving to Baduria immediately after we received the order. Rest was the travel time," said a senior BSF official.