Will PM Modi Finally use Article 356 to Impose President’s Rule in Bengal?

In his two-terms spanning a decade Prime Minister Narendra Modi partially used Article 356 to dismiss any state government as per today top 10 news in Hindi. It was used in 2016 in Arunachal Pradesh and in 2018 in Jammu & Kashmir [J&K] and on both occasions, it was primarily used to avert a constitutional crisis although critics disagree with that line of reasoning.

Source: Jagran Josh

In J&K Article 356 was used to avoid a constitutional crisis after the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] withdrew support to the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] that did not have the numbers to prove a majority in the state assembly.

Today news headlines in Hindi reports that this was just prior to the abrogation of the controversial Article 370 that was proving to be a serious barrier to J&K’s complete integration with the rest of the country.

Both Arunachal Pradesh and J&K are border states with boundary issues involving China in both places and Pakistan in J&K.

The Modi government just could not allow any kind of constitutional crisis in these two states and as things stand now, the decisions to impose Article 356 in both the states has proven to be right.

Source: ZeeBiz

West Bengal is also a border state with serious security issues

There are very good reasons for the BJP government at the centre to impose Article 356 and dismiss the state government for the kind of problems it is creating in the state.

Today top 10 news in Hindi reports from the state that the Trinamool Congress [TMC] led state government is actively collaborating with Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators in spreading terror among the peace-loving Hindu Bengalis in the state.

The scale and intensity of intimidation and violence against the ordinary Hindus of the state has acquired alarming dimensions. The matter has been made worse by the active involvement of the state police and other departments of the state government in the persecution of Hindus in the state.

This has resulted in a serious demographic imbalance in many of the districts of the state bordering Bangladesh. The most critical situation is in the narrow stretch of land in North Bengal known as the Siliguri Corridor or the “Chicken Neck Corridor”.

Source: 13Angle

The Chicken Neck Corridor is a security challenge for India

This corridor is a major security challenge for India as per reports from today top 10 news in Hindi. This is where India is at its narrowest, just 22 km wide with Nepal on the west and Bangladesh on the east.

The site of a recent India-China faceoff, Doklam in Bhutan is around 100 Kms from this location and it is believed among Indian strategic planners that the Chinese wanted to occupy the Doklam plateau as it overlooks the Chicken Neck Corridor.

With such a critical and challenging geostrategic location in the state, one would expect the TMC government in West Bengal to be sensitive about its role in the nation’s security and cooperate with the union government.

Unfortunately, the TMC is doing just the opposite and is involved in nefarious activities with anti-social and anti-national elements mainly jihadi criminals from Bangladesh and within the state. It has given a free hand to such elements to run riots, intimidate and murder innocent Hindus at will, especially during elections.

The reign of terror that the TMC’s goons unleashed on innocent Hindus and BJP party members after winning the 2021 state assembly elections was reason enough for the BJP government at the centre to impose Article 356 and clamp down Governor’s rule. However, PM Modi did not do so and that disappointed many Hindus and BJP party rank and file in West Bengal at that time. This time, PM Modi’s statements as well as those of other senior BJP leaders on West Bengal indicate that the centre is going to get tough with the TMC government in the state.

AUTHOR: Dev Kumar is an independent geo-political observer, commentator and blogger who tries to look at international issues in relation to India and present a different dimension that has hardly been covered by mainstream experts.