CM should act rather than expressing condolences over poll-related deaths: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Kolkata, July 13 (IANS): West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee should have initiated prompt action to control the violence and bloodbath during the recently concluded panchayat polls in the state rather than expressing condolences now over so many deaths, BJP Lok Sabha member Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday morning.

He arrived in Kolkata on Wednesday as part of a four-member BJP delegation to review the incidents of violence, clashes and bloodbath during the polls for the three- tier panchayat system

On Thursday morning the delegation went to the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata to meet Governor C.V. Ananda Bose. After emerging from the meeting, Prasad talked to the media persons and said that the delegation members have requested the Governor to do the needful to end this violence and bloodbath.

“I came to know from the media that the chief minister has expressed condolences over the deaths. But what is the point of expressing condolences now? Mere condolences will not yield any result. What is required now is action,” he said.

According to him, the state administration has lost both its credibility and sensitivity. “Our aim is to highlight to the people the manner in which Mamata Banerjee is running her administration. We do not need any permission for that from anyone. We have come here to feel and understand the pain of common people. What we witnessed yesterday was extremely painful. Today we will be going to Diamond Harbour area in South 24 Parganas district and speak to the people there. Thereafter we will go to North Bengal. I hope that we will not be prevented from meeting the family members of the victims,” Prasad said.

Trinamool Congress’s state spokesman Kunal Ghosh said that the BJP has deliberately sent the central team to show West Bengal in poor light. “Ravi Shankar Prasad has lost his berth as the Union law minister. He is now trying his best to be back in the good books of his party leadership and hence he is saying such things,” Ghosh said.

The other three members of the delegation are former commissioner of Mumbai Police Satyapal Singh and party MPs Rajdeep Roy and Rekha Verma, The latter is also the BJP’s national vice- president.