New Delhi, March 10 Union Minister J P Nadda on Tuesday challenged the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, accusing it of lacking respect for the judiciary, the Election Commission of India, and democratic procedures, and alleging that "the rule of law has been disregarded" in the state.
Responding to a supplementary query during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Nadda said the government in West Bengal was responsible for the situation arising from the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The Leader of the House asserted that the Centre was following the rule of law.
Nadda was responding to a query by TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray related to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, which is under Nadda.
While asking the supplementary, Ray charged that "coercive measures" have been taken in West Bengal in the name of SIR.
The TMC leader demanded that the Centre send a team to West Bengal and investigate the reason behind Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's protest on the streets of Kolkata for the last five days.
Responding to his allegations, Nadda said, "He (Ray) has talked about why a female chief minister is being penalized and why so many coercive steps have been taken."
"...This is being done because the only state left is West Bengal, where the rules and regulations and the rule of law have been disregarded. They have no respect for democratic procedures. They have no respect for political norms. They don't believe in democratic activities, and they even threaten the judiciary," he said.
Recently, Nadda said, a female chief minister has disrespected the President of India.
"A female chief minister has disrespected the office of the President of India, who is a woman and a tribal. There is no respect for the law, no respect for the judiciary, threats to everyone, and no respect for the Election Commission of India.
"This is not the Government of India. It is her own activity. And because the Government of India works on the rule of law, and because of the rule of law, things are happening like this," the senior BJP leader said.
While asking the supplementary, TMC leader Ray said the central government talks about cooperative federalism, and therefore it should look into the fact that the West Bengal chief minister is on the streets to protect the rights of millions of Indians.
"The central government must send a team of representatives to find out why this has happened and why the chief minister is on the streets... for the past five days. I have a request to the government, that this fact should be found out why these coercive measures have been taken in West Bengal alone in the name of SIR," Ray added.
The chief minister is staging a protest in Kolkata against the SIR exercise.
According to official data released on February 28, 63.66 lakh names, around 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since the SIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore in West Bengal.
In addition, over 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the "under adjudication" category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks, a process that could further reshape constituency-level electoral equations.