Chidambaram targets Left, BJP-ruled states

New Delhi, Aug 1 : Home Minister P. Chidambaram Saturday criticised the West Bengal government's handling of the Maoist menace even as he indicated Gujarat's controversial bill to counter organised crime was likely to be rejected once again.

While censuring both the Left-ruled West Bengal and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat, Chidambaram, also sought to impress upon various political parties of Jammu and Kashmir, especially the Congress' former ally Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to avoid raising needless controversies in the border state and work in tandem with the state government to deliver good governance.

"Although it is about seven weeks since the central paramilitary forces were deployed in Lalgarh at the request of the West Bengal government, the situation has still not stabilised. The CPI-Maoist (the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist) still continues to have pockets of influence and is suspected to be behind some recent acts of violence," Chidambaram said at his monthly news conference.

"We have made it clear to all states that while paramilitary forces will be available for deployment, such deployment cannot be for an indefinite period and that state police forces will have to take over the responsibility of maintaining law and order as soon as possible," he said.

Chidambaram also defended his earlier comments that parts of West Bengal have become "killing fields".

"I did not use any harsh words for the state government. What I had said was that many districts of West Bengal have become killing fields," said Chidamabaram adding that he had made those remarks "on the basis of letters written by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the letters written by Trinamool Congress leaders and and the ministry's own intelligence reports".

"They all have expressed concern over the situation in certain pockets of West Bengal," he said adding: "All I said was that the killings have become a routine affair, even owing to political differences. It's the responsibility of the state government to ensure that there is no killing over political differences."

In response to a question, Chidamabaram made it clear that he was unlikely to recommend the president's assent for the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill, passed last week by the state assembly for the third time after the president returned it twice.

He said the bill goes against "the last and latest expression of parliament" made on the issue of security and anti-terror laws while carrying out the the latest amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2004.

The home minister said the Gujarat bill negated some of the principles of the criminal laws that confessions of an accused before police officers should not be admissible in court, apart from the fact that the power of granting bail to an accused must be left to the discretion of the courts instead of empowering police to detain people for up to six months on the pretext of investigations.

Commenting on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's resignation Monday following an allegation that his name had figured in an alleged CBI list of accused in a sex racket, the home minister said: "I was pained by the developments (after) certain allegations made in the Jammu and Kashmir state legislature.

"The ministry of home affairs promptly put the facts (related to the scandal) in the public domain and, I believe, that helped bring the controversy to an end," said Chidamabaram.

Abdullah's resignation was rejected by Governor N.N. Vohra who found no evidence against him.

"What Jammu and Kashmir needs is good and effective governance and I hope that all political parties will work with the state government to provide good and effective governance in the state," Chidambaram added.