Upset over Union home minister P Chidambaram?s public remark that the ?the buck stops with the chief minister? when it comes to law and order in the state, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday hit back, asking him to ?mind his language? and ?let me do my job?.
During a visit to Lalgarh on Sunday, Chidambaram said he had spoken to Bhattacharjee on the Maoist problem and ?we have differences of perception… I have told him that the buck stops with the chief minister and it is the failure of the administration if the buck stops somewhere else?.
Responding to queries from reporters today, Bhattacharjee said: ?Buck is the not the language of politicians. I say, mind your language. This is a language used in the game of poker. This is slang… I do not accept what he said. I know my responsibility. Let me do my job and and let him do his.?
?I am trying to discharge my responsibilities. I have my own views about the law-and-order situation of the state. He gave me his views and I gave him mine. But I also told him that it is very difficult to maintain law and order if the Opposition does not cooperate. I told him that you should tell the Opposition to attend meetings when called by the government,? he said.
?He mentioned about some areas where law and order was bad. I mentioned some areas… I told him you should know the whole truth. You have got one-sided facts,? Bhattacharjee said.
And a little earlier, at the CPM headquarters on Alimuddin Street, party leader and former MP Md Selim also targeted Chidambaram: ?We know he is from Harvard, sits in North Block and speaks in an Americanised accent. He was India?s representative to Davos. But Davos and Lalgarh are not the same.?