Chidambaram copying practices from the US, says CPI(M)

Crossing swords with Union home minister P Chidambaram for his comment that the buck stopped with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in tackling law and order problems, the CPI-M today said he was only copying practices followed in the US."He is fascinated with American accent. As a home minister, he is copying the practices followed in the US. He brought the proverb from the American table. He is not entitled to do so," CPI-M state secretariat and Central Committee member Mohammad Salim told reporters."The Centre and states are not working in cross- purposes. But a spirit of cooperation is needed between the two entities. We have a federal structure. He himself is passing the buck. On the question of internal security some one should own the buck," he said.According to him, Bhattacharjee and Chidambaram were not engaged in a game of poker and it was the state government's responsibility to maintain law and order and the state should do whatever is necessary in this regard."We know what the law and order situation in Delhi is. As many as 18 police stations in Hyderabad are under curfew due to communal violence," Salim said.The home minister should take care of the 'nexus' between Trinamool Congress and Maoists which is a well-knownfact.Alleging that Trinamool Congress and Congress had no programmes to fight Maoists in West Bengal, Salim saidChidambaram had urged politicians to visit Lalgarh, but "heshould have given advice to Trinamool Congress to refrain fromsupporting extremists.

He alleged that Trinamool Congress is maintaining contact with the Maoists. "It is holding secret meetings with them. The UPA government should ponder over whom it was getting along with at the Centre in running the government," he claimed.He said Chidambaram should visit not only Lalgarh, but also Naxalite-hit states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.He said that due to the Centre's policies there had been imbalance in development and as a result the eastern states had suffered.When told that Chidambaram had already ruled out alleged links between Maoists and Trinamool, Salim said it was difficult for him to admit the link as the Mamata Banerjee's party is a key partner in the UPA government."In that case either he or Mamata Banerjee has to resign," he said.