The BJP wants the President to intervene and seek a report from the TMC government on the violence.
The BJP has decided to turn the heat on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government over the violence in Malda. A party delegation met President Pranab Mukherjee this afternoon and requested that he direct the state government to file a report on what the BJP calls "series of incidents which pose a threat to national security".
The BJP delegation of party secretary Siddharth Nath Singh, general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and leaders of the party's Bengal unit submitted a memorandum highlighting how the TMC government is "promoting vote bank politics and permitting infiltrators to settle down in West Bengal." The BJP conveyed its stand that the Malda incidents have links with fake currency and terror activities. The TMC, on the other hand, had accused the BJP of attempting to communalise state which goes to polls in a few months.
"In the last 36 hours there has been yet another incident. A police station was set on fire in the Birbhum district by a mob. These are not stray incidents but a clear threat to national security. We want the President as head of the Constitution to intervene," a delegation member said.
Violence erupted in Kaliachak on January 3 after a lakh-strong gathering of Muslim activists gathered to protest against alleged blasphemous comments by an activist of the right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, who is now in a Lucknow jail.
The memorandum further added that "the NIA had been actively investigating the anti-national operations taking place at Malda. It is understood that dossiers of key criminals were prepared and were kept at Kaliachak police station."
A decision to "go aggressive" on the incidents of violence in the state was taken during a meeting between the leaders of the RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor, and the BJP. The RSS was represented by Mr Krishna Gopal, the Sangh's pointsman for the BJP. The RSS has asked the party to build a strong political campaign on the issue. The BJP was also asked to challenge illegal immigrants and help Hindu refugees fleeing Bangladesh. Mr Singh had told NDTV, "Leaders linked with TMC were also involved in it. It is not only a matter of state but that of national security. People who do illegal activities there were leading it."
Last week, a party delegation had met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and demanded a high-level probe into the matter. He is said to have "assured" the delegation of appropriate action. The meeting with Mr Singh had come a day after the "fact-finding team" of the party was not allowed by the state administration to visit violence-hit Kaliachak in Malda district.