Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhatterjee came under severe attack from his Cabinet colleagues on Wednesday on the issue of ongoing violence in Naxal-affected districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.

Bhatterjee’s Cabinet colleagues asked what are the actions that are being taken to contain violence in the area that has claimed 56 lives in the last three months.

Violence perpetrated by the Maoists in different parts of the country has already raised concern in New Delhi with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram saying that the Centre might use special forces to crush the Naxal menace.

Commenting on the situation in Lalgarh and its adjoining areas where Maoists’ writ still runs in spite of the presence of a large contingent of Central and state security forces, state PWD Minister Kshiti Goswamy said: “A civil strife is going on and every day people are being killed. It seems law and order situation has totally collapsed. Just yesterday at Enayatpur, near Midnapore town, 17 people were reportedly killed.”

“I asked the chief minister what the government was doing. But Bhattacharjee said he did not want to say anything at the Cabinet meet. Now, if the chief minister says like this we cannot say anything,” he added. Goswamy belongs to Left Front partner RSP.

Minister for Water Resources Nandagopal Bhattacharya, who belongs to the CPI, also expressed surprise over the CM’s reaction. “The chief minister heard every thing but he did not reveal anything. He said he was preparing a political document. We believe it will be placed in the next Left Front meeting,” Bhattacharya told The Indian Express.

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