Thaindian News

Kolkata, July 7 (IANS) Two days after union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s virtual snub to the Mamata Banerjee government, West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan Saturday praised it for containing Maoist violence in the state.

“The government has done an excellent job in containing Maoist violence. This is a feather in the cap of the chief minister and the government,” Narayanan said on the sidelines of a programme here.

On Thursday, Chidambaram had claimed that the state has become virtually free of Maoist violence due to the efforts of the erstwhile Left Front government and the current regime and the backing of the central government.

Asked about Chidambaram’s remarks about continuing inter-party clashes inthe state, the governor said the poser should be put to Chidambaram about the source of his information.

“Why are you asking me?” he said.

Speaking at the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce Thursday, Chidambaram said inter-party clashes were continuing in the state, and a “bullet for bullet” scenario had no place in a democracy.

Soon after Chidambaram’s remarks, senior Trinamool leader and state Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee had reacted sharply, terming the attack as a “conspiracy” and an attempt to pressurise the state’s ruling party to support Congress candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential polls.

Banerjee herself shot off an angry letter to Chidambaram Friday, describing as “incorrect” the figures provided by him on the number of deaths in inter-party clashes in the state.