The call for the meeting comes in the middle of speculations that Article 356 would be imposed in the state
With the violence triggered off by the Lok Sabha election results showing no signs of flagging, West Bengal governor Kesarinath Tripathi today decided to intervene by calling the four major parties of the state to a meeting. The move is being seen as quite unprecedented.
According to sources, the governor will meet the party representatives at 4 PM on Thursday.
Since May 23, the day of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election results, the state has witnessed multiple incidents of violence including murder, with attempts at occupying TMC party offices in the districts. Official sources have confirmed 10 deaths in political clashes so far.
Both the BJP and the TMC have alleged that their party workers have gone missing in Sandeshkhali. Supporters of the two parties have clashed in Cooch Behar, Barrackpore, Burdwan, Midnapore, and a few other places. But Sandeshkhali in Basirhat, North 24 Parganas, has been the most tense in the aftermath of the poll results. Three deaths were reported in TMC-BJP clashes last week. Soon after, the governor flew to Delhi to submit a report on the state to the prime minister and the home ministry. This triggered off speculations about the imposition of President’s Rule (Article 356) in the state. The Union home minsitry also sent an advisory asking the state government to bring the violence in Sandeshkhali under control at the earliest.
Raj Bhavan sources revealed that the governor has invited TMC general secretary Partha Chatterjee, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh. CPIM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra, and Pradesh Congress president Somen Mitra for the meeting tomorrow. The Bengal Story has also learnt that the governor had originally decided to call an all-party meeting, but later decided to call the representatives of the four major parties of the state. The names of the representatives were also chosen by the Raj Bhavan and communicated to the parties.
