Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee giving a compensation cheque, at a party function on Thursday, to the family of the person killed in police firing at Tehatta in Nadia district drew criticism from the Opposition. It said that she was “blurring the line between government and party.”
Pradip Bhattacharya, chief of the Pradesh Congress Committee, said that government money could not be distributed at a party function.
Senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Mohammed Salim said that despite all her talk on promoting democracy and ending party hegemony, Ms. Banerjee was “merging the party and the administration.”
Earlier, speaking at the function, she appealed for peace and calm in Tehatta, which borders Bangladesh. She said her government would provide employment to the eldest son of the victim. Help would also be given to the families of the people injured.
Clashes between residents and the police had broken out on November 14 at Haulia, a village in the Tehatta subdivision. The situation worsened after the police opened fire “in self-defence.” One person died and nine people, including eight policemen, were injured in the incident.
“I had come to enquire what really happened that day and to make sure that it never happens again. If there is unrest, then there would be neither industry nor development in your area,” she warned the gathering at Tehatta, to reach whom she had to travel on foot for kilometres, as the congested area and the turnout didn’t allow passage of vehicles.
