Kolkata, Dec 31 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Friday accepted Home Minister P.Chidamaram’s invitation to visit New Delhi for talks on law and order in the state but said he was ‘unable to accept’ the central minister’s attitude to Left Front workers.
‘I conclude here by saying again that I will try to go to Delhi as early as possible to meet you and discuss all related issues,’ the chief minister said in his reply to Chidambaram’s second set of letters.
The two leaders continued to spar on the use of the word ‘Harmad’ in Chidambaram’s first letter written Dec 21. The home minister, who sent two letters to the chief minister Thursday, stood by the usage and asked Bhattacharjee to suggest a better word to describe armed Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) cadres housed in camps in Maoist-infested areas.
Bhattacharjee, who replied to Chidambaram’s double missive Thursday itself, refused to buy the central minister’s suggestion.
‘I objected to the use of the word ‘harmad’ for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, you have proposed to replace it with any better word that I may suggest.
‘I am sorry I cannot offer you any such word since I am unable to accept your attitude to Left Front workers in our state, and also your observation regarding failure of law and order in certain areas,’ the chief minister said.
The chief minister also claimed that he did not want to ‘open all our correspondence before the media, but to discuss with you the problems when I meet you in Delhi.
‘But as you have already released the correspondence between us to the media, I feel compelled to write further on the issues raised by you,’ he said.
In his strongly-worded reply, Bhattacharjee also alleged that Chidambaram’s Dec 21 letter, which had reached his office Dec 27, was deliberately leaked to the media.
‘I cannot accept the deliberate leakage of the letter to the media,’ he said.
The Left Front partners had taken strong exception to the letter reaching the media Dec 24, following which the home ministry issued a statement appending an apology from a top India Post official for the delayed delivery of the missive.
Bhattacharjee said he shared Chidambaram’s ‘anxiety’ on the ground situation in the Maoist-affected areas, but assured him that the situation was ‘changing for the better’.
‘I told you earlier when we met in Delhi that we have restored normalcy in vast areas affected by Maoist domination and the situation has now further improved’.
On Chidambaram’s assertion that the state government should disarm and demobilise ‘armed cadres’ operating in camps in the ultra-infested areas, Bhattacharjee avoided a direct reply.
‘I assure you that our policy is to take appropriate administrative steps against all armed groups who may try to disrupt law and order,’ he said.
