Don’t allow Maoist entry, don’t let anyone create trouble before elections, Mamata Banerjee warns administration in Jhargram

There have been Maoist posters in recent times in Jangalmahal. Incidents have been linked to possible Maoist activities in the area. At an administrative meeting in Jhargram district on Wednesday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee warned the state and district administration that there should not be any Maoist activities in the area. “We have brought in peace where there used to be bloodshed. We have done it with a lot of difficulty. Let there be no Maoist activity, no violence ahead of the elections in the area,” Banerjee said at an administrative meeting in the district.

The Trinamool Congress has performed poorly in the Lok Sabha elections from the seats of Jangalmahal – the forested area of Purulia, Bankura, West Midnapore and Jhargram. Since that debacle, this is the first time the CM is visiting Jhargram. Without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Banerjee said that if there is trouble in the area again, people will confront and oppose the trouble-makers. Banerjee spoke with the public representatives from the area as well. She said that during the elections, outsiders are brought in with a lot of money, and they put the local people in trouble and leave. “This cannot happen. If there is trouble where there is peace, people will oppose it,” she said.

At the meeting, Banerjee asked the DGP Virendra about the situation. She said that she had information that some Maoist leaders had been in the area. The Trinamool Congress has alleged that the BJP has been “using” the recent Maoist history to create trouble in the area. Seen in this context, Banerjee’s caution without naming the BJP is significant as it not only uses the warning to the administration but also sought to make people aware of the various possibilities, in a way asking them to oppose Maoists in the area.