Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegations on the motives behind the presence of Army personnel at toll plazas in the State, including those just a few hundred metres away from her office on December 1.
In an aggressively worded letter, Mr. Parrikar told Ms. Banerjee that he was deeply pained “by the CM’s allegations over Army exercises in Bengal last week.”
“Political parties and the politicians may have the luxury of making wild and unsubstantiated allegations against each other but one needs to be extremely careful while referring to our armed forces. I am sure you would appreciate this,” the Defence Minister said in his letter sent on Thursday.
“If only you had enquired with the concerned agencies of the State government, you would have come to know of the extensive correspondence between the Army and the State agencies, including the joint inspection of sites carried out by them,” Mr. Parrikar said.
Impact on Army
“Your allegations run the risk of adversely impacting the morale of the country's armed forces and the same were not expected from a person of your standing and experience in public life,” the Defence Minister said.
In the midst of the ongoing stand off between the government and the opposition Ms. Banerjee had created a furore, claiming dramatically that democracy was under threat, while objecting to the presence of the Army personnel. She had wondered aloud if it was all part of some sort of coup against her government.
Rejecting her claims, the Army had pointed out that on December 1, as part of an exercise across several States, it had deployed unarmed soldiers at checkpoints and toll plazas to take down details of movements of vehicles which could be diverted in case of a major disaster or military necessity.
CM responds
The West Bengal Chief Minister, however, rejected the Minister’s stand, saying that he had chosen to convey the “laughable idea” that he was the sole spokesperson for people at large. “I do not think that it behoves a Minister of the Union Government to pass near-defamatory remarks on a Chief Minister of any State and I trust you will rectify this attitude,” she responded.
