The West Bengal Chief Secretary B.P. Gopalika and the acting Director General of State Police Rajeev Kumar have decided to ignore the summons to appear before the Privileges Committee of Lok Sabha and give explanations for the recent attack on state BJP chief and MP Sukanta Majumdar. A letter has been sent from the state secretariat of Nabanna to the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with the plea for postponing the date of appearing before the Privilege Committee. It is yet to be clear whether one other IAS officer and two other IPS officers, who were also supposed to be present before the Privileges Committee on Monday, will be going there or not.
State government sources said that considering that the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) will be coming to West Bengal to review poll preparations, the chief secretary and state police director general will be busy with the task of preparedness for that purpose and hence they need some time to be present before the committee. Besides Gopalika and Kumar, North 24 Parganas District Magistrate Sharad Kumar Dwivedi and Basirhat Police District Superintendent Hossain Mehdi Rehman and Additional Superintendent Partha Ghosh were also supposed to be present before the Privilege Committee on Monday.
The recent incident involved the state BJP chief and MP Sukanta Majumdar falling ill in the midst of a scuffle between the cops and BJP supporters who were protesting alleged sexual harassment of women in Sandeshkhali. On the basis of the complaint from Majumdar, the Lok Sabha Speaker directed the Union ministry of home affairs to review the situation.
The decision by Gopalika and Kumar to ignore the summons raises questions about their accountability and the government’s stance on addressing the issue. It remains to be seen how the Privileges Committee and the Lok Sabha Speaker will respond to their decision.
The controversy surrounding the attack on Sukanta Majumdar and the response of the state government officials continues to raise concerns about the state of law and order in West Bengal. The actions of the chief secretary and the state police director general in this matter will be closely monitored by the public and political stakeholders alike.
