Row Over Army Deployment in West Bengal Echoes in Parliament
The issue was raised in both Houses of Parliament, with the TMC seeing “sinister” designs behind the move.
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The row over the Army taking over road toll plazas in West Bengal today echoed in Parliament with TMC seeing "sinister" designs behind the move and the government vehemently denying the charge. The latter, in fact, said that it was a routine exercise that had been conducted with the knowledge of the local authorities.
The issue was raised in both Houses of Parliament with main Opposition Congress, too, seeking clarification on the Army deployment at 19 toll plazas in West Bengal.
In Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar termed it a "routine exercise not unique to West Bengal". He pointed out that similar operations to collect information on heavy vehicle movement (that can be used during national emergencies) had been conducted last month in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Along with West Bengal, similar exercises were carried out in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram – he said, while responding to TMC and Congress MPs.
He also stated that originally the exercise was planned for November 28-30 but was shifted to December 1 and 2 at the request of Kolkata Police as those dates were clashing with the protests against demonetisation.
(With inputs from PTI)
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