Restore law & order in West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury writes to President Droupadi Murmu

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, July 27

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury today wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and sought her intervention to restore law and order in West Bengal.

Chowdhury, president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC), also complained to President Murmu about the alleged attacks on activists of opposition parties by supporters of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).

While the BJP will be immensely happy with the letter written by Chowdhury to President Murmu, what will please the saffron party even more is the Congress leader terming the present situation in West Bengal akin to “a state of emergency”.

He alleged that there had been several cases where people affiliated to opposition parties lost their jobs and denied social welfare benefits in the state. Chowdhury wrote, “In effect, in the present times, it is definitely a situation of undeclared emergency that is prevalent in the state, where exercising fundamental rights by people remains a fairy tale”.

In the past also, Chowdhury had run-ins with top leadership of the Congress over his opposition to Mamata Banerjee. His reference to “a state of emergency” describing lack of democracy in West Bengal under the Mamata Banerjee regime is likely to once again ruffle feathers in the Congress circles.

In the letter, Chowdhury also referred to the killing of a Congress activist, who was allegedly tied to a tree and beaten to death by TMC workers in Jalpaiguri last week.

“Such incidents are an indication that there is absolutely no ‘space’ for opposition in the state. This situation does not auger well for our democracy,” Chowdhury wrote.

Chowdhury, a five-time MP from the Baharampur constituency in Murshidabad district, who lost to former cricketer and TMC candidate Yusuf Pathan in 2024, also accused the TMC of “engineering” communal riots in Murshidabad district before the Lok Sabha elections in order to polarise the voters.

Chowdhury wrote “what is of deep concern and requires immediate attention is the continued post-poll violence and intimidation of opposition workers by the ruling party in the state”.

‘Situation of undeclared emergency’

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a five-time MP from the Baharampur constituency in Murshidabad district, alleged that there had been several cases where people affiliated to opposition parties lost their jobs and denied social welfare benefits in the state. Chowdhury wrote, “In effect, in the present times, it is definitely a situation of undeclared emergency that is prevalent in the state, where exercising fundamental rights by people remains a fairy tale”.