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Kolkata: Opposition Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday demanded the dismissal of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government in West Bengal after a court censured the state police over the March 14 violence in Nandigram.
"The Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government has no right to continue in power after what the Calcutta High Court has said. We had earlier said the government was functioning in contravention of the constitution and now we have been vindicated by the high court," Mamata told reporters.
In a stinging criticism of the police role, a division bench of the court, comprising Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh yesterday described the March 14 police firing on villagers in Nandigram, which led to the death of 14 people, as "unjustified, unconstitutional" and "illegal".
'Unacceptable'
"Even Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi had described the capture of Nandigram by armed cadres as unacceptable and unlawful. But instead of listening to the governor, the CPM mounted an attack on him," Mamata said.
The Trinamool Congress supremo said the Left Front government has no right to remain in power after the scathing criticism by the governor and the high court.
"The governor is the constitutional head of the state. When he says enough is enough and describes the armed capture of Nandigram as unlawful, the Left Front government has no moral, constitutional or legal right to remain in power. It is a fit case for imposition of President's rule in the state," she said.
"This government has become a government by the CPM, for the CPM and of the CPM," she said.
"Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is the police minister and when the high court has indicted the police, he has no right to remain in the post.
"We will meet the governor on Saturday at Raj Bhavan to demand the sacking of the government," she said. Mamata also announced a series of agitations to mount pressure on the government to quit.
Troubled region
Meanwhile, social activist Medha Patkar has called for a 48-hour fast tomorrow to bring peace to West Bengal's trouble-torn Nandigram region.
"I appeal to everybody to participate in a 48-hour hunger strike in order to bring peace in Nandigram and highlight the need for relief in the district," the Narmada Bachao Andolan leader told newspersons here yesterday.
"Those who are concerned about people in the trouble-torn district should participate in the hunger strike at my dharna manch [protest forum," she said.
Patkar has been camping at Esplanade in Kolkata to protest the violence in Nandigram in East Midnapore, 150km from here.
The rights activist was allegedly roughed up by CPM supporters on November 8 on her way to Nandigram. Violence in Nandigram has claimed 34 lives since January, when the region flared up over a land acquisition move.
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