WB: Suvendu Adhikari writes to DGP, asks if TMC routed public funds to deploy police at primaries to select panchayat candidates

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 1 : BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Monday wrote to West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Malviya seeking an inquiry on whether the ruling Trinamool Congress routed public funds for the deployment of police force at primaries to select the party's panchayat candidates in Cooch Behar district.

Taking to Twitter, Adhikari said if the DGP fails to furnish the necessary details, he will pursue the legal recourse.

"TMC (regional party) using police force as a private security agency. I have asked the @DGPWestBengal to inform me whether TMC (regional party) has deposited cost for deployment of police force at Trinamool panchayat primaries. Failure to do so would prompt me to knock on the doors of justice on behalf of the people of Bengal. I believe this is a necessary step to stop the autocratic queen (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) from using the state exchequer as her personal piggy bank," Adhikari tweeted.

Further, in his letter to the DGP, Adhikari sought to know under which law was police procedure deployed for the Trinamool's primaries for the panchayat polls, as they serve no public interest. He added that the police is raised and maintained with the public money and they were accountable to the people for their actions.

"Apropos several media reports and footage, it has come in the public domain that the West Bengal Police was deployed during the primaries to select panchayat candidates of Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Cooch Behar and other districts of West Bengal," he also said in his letter.

Saying that there exists a pro-forma and a consequent rate chart for the deployment of police force, the BJP MLA asked the DP to come clean on whether a pecuniary amount was deposited by the TMC for deploying the men in uniform for the duration of primaries, which is two months.

He added that if such a payment was made, the amount should be made public.

"If there so exists any such indulgence under the law of the land, please bring that to public knowledge so that other political parties can also avail such arrangements in the future (sic)," he added.

He cited the Police Act of 1861 which stipulates that the primary objective of the police is the care and protection of the general populace in the state.

"However, in the light of the events that have been happening in the state of West Bengal, it seems that the police is doing everything but its duty as enshrined in the Act of 1861," the Leader Of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly said.

Adhikari said it was "highly unfortunate" if the ruling dispensation was using the police force as their private security agency when the law and order situation in the state had declined to dangerous depths.

"It will be quite unfortunate, if police is being deployed in such events without any payment by the TMC, as is required under law. In a democracy, the police are seen as the protector and enforcer of the laws of the land. However, in West Bengal, it seems there exists a different form of democracy wherein the law applies differently to the ruling dispensation as compared to the political opposition. It is highly unfortunate," Adhikari said, adding that he expected the DGP to clarify on these questions at the earliest.