Mamata asks ministers to be more proactive on ground, cites Murshidabad violence
Banerjee stressed that the Murshidabad violence would never have reached such a scale if TMC legislators and MPs played their role
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday told state ministers that they should be more proactive on the ground, citing the recent communal violence in Murshidabad, people familiar with the matter said.
“The chief minister said MLAs and ministers should reach out to all people and stay by them round the year. A people’s representative, she said, has no religion or class of his own,” a person aware of the matter said, citing Banerjee’s remarks at a meeting of the state cabinet.
Banerjee also lamented that some MLAs made irresponsible statements in recent months, and stressed that the Murshidabad violence would never have reached such a scale if Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators and MPs played their role, the person said.
Communal violence rocked the Jangipur sub-division of Murshidabad from April 8 to 12 when protests against the newly enforced Waqf (Amendment) Act led to rioting.
The violence claimed three lives. Haragobindo Das, 72, and his son Chandan Das, 40, were hacked to death by a mob at Jafrabad village in Samserganj. The third person, Ezaz Ahmed, 25, was killed in firing by security forces.
The National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women sent inquiry teams to the affected areas last week.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has attacked the TMC, claiming that Hindus were in danger in Bengal. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar visited Jafrabad on Monday and met members of the Das family.
TMC controls all three Lok Sabha seats in Murshidabad and 74 of the 76 assembly seats. Two seats were won by the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2021.
