Verbal duel with guv echoes at admin meet

Kolkata: Politics made its way into the administrative review meeting held at Netaji Indoor Stadium when CM Mamata Banerjee, in the backdrop of her verbal battle with the governor and BJP leaders, wanted to know from the Purba Midnapore SP if the governor interfered in his work.SP Amarnath K looked embarrassed when the CM said: “Do you get calls from the governor? Did he ask you to do this or not do that? Are you afraid?” The SP said he didn’t get calls from the governor. “I know you will not admit that. But feel free to do your assigned work. Tell me directly if you face any problem. You are working for the state government, mind it,” Banerjee said, asking Amarnath to find out how district magistrate Purnendu Maji was doing his job.The CM told the SP she was getting complaints from the district. “Some people are being engaged to spread communal tension in the district. Some political leaders are behind this,” she said. The police officer said he had already conducted an inquiry. Without naming BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee said: “Those who are doing all this do not belong to any community. They are not Hindus, Muslims or Christians. I had to take action when you couldn’t act on the alerts. I had to remove two persons and got them arrested because they were creating trouble in the Haldia industry.” The CM also asked Barrackpore police commissioner Manoj Verma to take help of STF and CID to find out who all were bringing armed anti-socials from outside. When Verma said arrests were made following the incidents, Banerjee said: “That is only part A of the job. You have to find out A to Z, identifying the persons behind this.”Barrackpore Police had made arrests following the bomb blast on BJP MP Arjun Singh’s Bhatpara turf last month and clashes in the area on Netaji’s birth anniversary on January 23.Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar didn’t engage in a verbal duel this time. He uploaded a snapshot of the CM’s interaction with the Purba Midnapore SP on his Twitter handle and gave a transcript of what the CM told the SP. Leader of opposition Adhikari condemned Banerjee’s asking a police officer about getting calls from the governor. “The governor is the constitutional head... what’s the harm if the governor calls a state official,” he said.