New Delhi:
The West Bengal Assembly elections may be over but the state continues to be roiled by politics of confrontation between the Central and state administrations. The matter now agitating the key rival parties, the Trinamool and the BJP, is the central security provided to the 77 new BJP legislators.
While the Centre has approved centra security cover for the opposition MLAs in view of the potential threat to life they face, the state government has barred the central personnel's entry into the Assembly premises.
The security cover was provided based on a report submitted by a three-member fact-finding team that visited West Bengal recently to review the situation following the post-poll violence in which 21 people were reportedly killed and property of BJP workers allegedly looted.
Seventy-four of the MLAs will now be protected by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and three by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
"Sixty-one have got X-category, four Y-category, and nine Y-plus category security from CISF. While the three under CRPF cover are getting Z-category," said another senior Union Home Ministry official.