Chidambaram’s letter bomb set to cause political blast

The CPI(M) versus Congress plus Trinamool verbal duel has intensified. After accusing Union home minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram of leaking the contents of a letter he wrote to West Bengal chief minister and party leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday, CPI(M) alleged on Monday that the Centre was acting under pressure from ally Trinamool.

The letter, in which Chidambaram has allegedly asked the West Bengal government to disarm CPI(M) cadres in Jangalmahal, ultimately reached the office of the chief minister on Monday morning. The letter had reached the general post office in Kolkata on Friday, but it was delivered only on Monday because of holidays on Saturday and Sunday.

Confirming the receipt of the letter, Bhattacharjee said he would give a fitting reply on Tuesday.

“For the last three days, there were so many media reports about the letter. Ultimately, I received the letter on Monday morning. I will give a fitting reply. I will ask the Union home minister whether he supports the Maoist-Trinamool nexus in West Bengal,” he said.
Bhattacharjee refused to divulge details of his reply, but sources told DNA that he would highlight breach of certain constitutional norms.

“Certain terms used in the letter, such as ‘Harmad Vahini’, are unconstitutional. These are the same used by the opposition party in the state. Secondly, the state government will protest the leak of the letter by the Union home ministry to a section of the media before it reached the office of the chief minister. The protocol of faxing a copy of the letter to the office of the chief minister in advance was also not followed in this case,” a state home department official said.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) is all set to launch an all-out attack on Chidambaram on this issue. Party general secretary Prakash Karat said the manner in which the letter was leaked to the media before it reached the CM’s office was unconstitutional.

Echoing Karat, CPI(M) state secretary and Left Front chairman in West Bengal Biman Bose said the manner in which the letter was leaked to the media was unthinkable.

He admitted the presence of CPM camps in Jangalmahal, but said only homeless cadres and their family members were housed there.

Challenging the figures quoted by Chidambaram that as of December 15, 2010, 96 Trinamool members had been killed and 1,237 injured in political violence in West Bengal, Bose said Trinamool should support the claim with details to support his facts.