A three-member central home ministry team, led by union Additional Secretary (home) D.R.S. Chowdhary, arrived in Kolkata Monday on a two-day fact-finding mission to West Bengal in the wake of recurring political violence.
The issue led to adjournment of both houses of parliament in the day after the Left parties protested the home ministry's move. Home Minister P. Chidambaram has said the visit was not aimed at imposing president's rule in the state.
The central team is to meet senior administration and police officials at the state secretariat Tuesday.
Top state government bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen and Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh, will brief the team about the law and order situation.
The team is expected to tour some of the violence-prone zones in Hooghly, Burdwan and East Midnapore districts before returning to Delhi Wednesday.
The team has asked the state government for logistical support so that it can meet people in the affected areas and listen to their complaints.
The team's visit follows the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's partner Trinamool Congress' persistent demand for central intervention in the state.
The Left Front, which has been ruling the state for 32 years, particularly its major partner Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), has been involved in a series of clashes with main opposition Trinamool Congress for control of political turf ahead of the 2011 assembly polls.
More than 150 people have died in political violence since the April-May Lok Sabha elections that saw the Trinamool decimate the LF.
The Left parties raised a hue and cry in parliament Monday over the central team's visit forcing adjournment of both houses.
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has, however, said that the visit is intended at assisting the state government maintain law and order and not to invoke president's rule under Article 356.
"There is no scope for invoking Article 356. It (the central teams' visit) should not be viewed through the prism of Article 356. It is to assist the state government," Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha Monday as the house discussed the matter during Zero Hour.
The home minister said many districts of West Bengal have been witnessing violent clashes between political parties since June 18.
Chidambaram, who said he had a good working relationship with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, added that he had suggested to the chief minister that "a team of officials from the centre be sent to the state for discussions with his team of bureaucrats".
"This step is entirely non-confrontational," the minister assured, and added that this was "for putting an end to the political clashes".
In a related development, the Congress party said in New Delhi that the law and order situation in certain parts of West Bengal was "very bad" but refused to say if the party wanted central intervention in the state.
Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said it was for the government to decide whether to impose Section 356 or give a notice to the state or take some other measure.
"There is no proposal before the Congress (relating to situation in the state)," he said, responding to queries.
