The Government on Friday blamed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the unrest in Darjeeling , saying her attitude and handling of the issue had "set the quiet hills on fire" as CPI-M asked for a tripartite meeting and wanted the Centre to tell the Chief Minister to work as per constitution .
Mohammed Salim (CPI-M) raised the issue in the lok Sabha during Zero Hour, charging Banerjee with trying to impose her will on language and other governance affairs on the people in the hilly region.
"You cannot declare a war on the people," the CPM member said, adding that the State's food minister had threatened to stop supply of essential provisions to Darjeeling if the protests continued. Salim was referring to the Gorkhaland agitation in Northern Bengal.
The Central Government cannot remain quiet, he said and sought it to call a tri-partite meeting. "You must tell the Chief Minister to work as per the Constitution," he told the Centre.
Parliamentary party affairs minister Ananth Kumar, who responded after the CPM member, said tri-partite talks involving the Centre, the State and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) can be held only after peace has been restored in the region. Kumar said the situation in Darjeeling was getting more serious.
"There must be peace. If the quiet hills have been set on fire, then the reason is the Chief Minister's attitude and her handling of the issue," he said.
Members of the Trinamool Congress were not in the House when their Government came under attack from the left and the Government .