Sending out signals that the Trinamool Congress is all set to carry its fight with the Left in West Bengal to Parliament, an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday saw Mamata Banerjee and CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharya enter into a verbal duel on the matter of a discussion on Naxalism in the Lok Sabha.
In the meeting, the Trinamool chief raised questions about the role of the West Bengal government in Lalgarh, prompting sharp reactions from Left representatives. Mamata Banerjee later told reporters that her party would raise the issue of violence in Lalgarh in the House even as she demanded imposition of President?s rule in West Bengal charging that there was no governance in the state.
?There is no governance. The atrocities are so high. We want Article 356 against atrocities? The atrocities against Muslims, SCs, STs and women are so high and the state government must act according to constitutional provisions. The Central government cannot keep mum. We are not asking for Article 356 for our victory?, she said.
Rejecting the Trinamool charges on Lalgarh, Basudeb Acharya told reporters that the joint operation against Maoists in the area had been approved by the Union Cabinet. ?Being a member of the Union Cabinet, how can she have a different view?? he asked. He also dismissed her demand for President?s rule in the state saying that the Left Front government had a mandate to rule till 2011.
The scrap between the Trinamool and Left leaders came up when the all- party meeting was deliberating on how critical issues before the nation that could hurt its democratic fabric ? such as terrorism and Naxalism ?should be taken up in the House. The meeting also decided that price rise and problems faced by farmers including sugarcane growers must be taken up in the upcoming session of Parliament.
?We look forward to a stormy session, otherwise it will get very boring,? Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar told reporters after the meeting. She hoped that issues would be sorted out in the month-long session beginning November 19 even if there were ?heated discussions?.
One of the suggestions at the meeting was for a minimum of 100 sittings of Parliament in a year. Parliamentary affairs minister PK Bansal expressed the government?s readiness for such a move but asked political parties to help it prepare the schedule.