Constitutional breakdown in Bengal: Rajnath
February 04, 2019  13:22
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Home Minister Rajnath Singh Monday said there may be a constitutional breakdown in West Bengal in the wake of the Kolkata Police-CBI face-off and asserted that the Centre has power to take action. Amidst din in the Lok Sabha, he also termed as "unprecedented" the move to stop the probe agency from performing its duty.


The home minister said the action was taken after the SC had ordered an investigation into Saradha chit fund case. "The Police Commissioner was summoned many times but he did not appear. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has summoned Chief Secretary and Director General of Police and has asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation," Rajnath Singh said.


An all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government on Sunday over the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams.


Making a statement in Lok Sabha on the prevailing situation in Kolkata, Singh described the action against the CBI probe team, which went to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, as "unprecedented" and a threat to the federal political system of the country. "There may be constitutional breakdown in West Bengal... under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country," he said.


Members from Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, NCP and Samajwadi Party spoke against the CBI move to question the Kolkata police chief. A CPI-M member said both the Trinamool Congress and the Centre were at fault. 


Image: Mamata Banerjee sitting in dharna at Metro Channel, Kolkata, at 11:25 pm yesterday. Pic: @AITCofficial
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