At a time when governments world over are calling for cooperation to unitedly fight against the coronavirus pandemic, in India, the central government and the West Bengal government are at loggerheads, each accusing the other of wrongdoings. On its part, the Mamata Banerjee government has accused the Centre of selectively targeting the state, while on the other hand the Centre alleges that West Bengal has been non-transparent with releasing data related to Covid-19 cases and testing of samples.

This war of words has been on for the past few days. In the latest, inter-ministerial teams from New Delhi reached Kolkata today with the task to visit some of the worst-affected districts in the state.

The Centre has alleged there have been several violations of lockdown measures in West Bengal and that the situation in some state districts is serious, a charge the state government says is devoid of facts.

What has happened so far:

1) On Monday, the Union Home Ministry announced that six inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) will visit identified areas in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan within the next three days to make on-the-spot assessment of the coronavirus situation and lockdown measures, and recommend remedial measures in a report to the Centre.

2) Today, two inter-ministerial teams from the Centre reached Kolkata to inspect some districts in the state. One of them is putting up at a camp of the Border Security Force (BSF). These teams will visit districts like East Midnapore, Howrah, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kolkata to monitor the Covid-19 situation.

3) However, this decision to fly in teams from New Delhi has not gone down well with the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The party said these teams were on an "adventure tourism". Senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O' Brien has claimed that the Centre informed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about the team and its purpose three hours after it had landed in Kolkata. "Who is going to brief these two teams that have come? The state government wasn't informed."

4) Derek O' Brien also accused the Centre of "inciting" the people of West Bengal. "Every time they fly down teams," he said, asking why such teams were sent only to non-BJP states. "I want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah why teams have not been sent to Gujarat which has five hotspots and 1,850 cases; to Tamil Nadu which has 22 hotspots and 1,477 cases; Uttar Pradesh which has nine hotspots and 1,900 cases?"

5) On her part, Mamata Banerjee too wrote a letter to PM Modi. "As an established procedure, it is expected that the central team should have first taken a briefing from the state government officials prior to going for the field visits," she wrote, adding that the observations made by the Centre on West Bengal are bereft of facts. (Read details here)

I urge both Honb’le Prime Minister @NarendraModi Ji & Home Minister @AmitShah Ji to share the criterion used for this. Until then I am afraid, we would not be able to move ahead on this as without valid reasons this might not be consistent with the spirit of federalism. (2/2) — Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 20, 2020

6) Asked about the Centre's allegation that West Bengal is testing fewer samples, Derek O' Brien said in March when the state government had asked for testing kits, only 40 kits were provided. "We followed all ICMR guidelines, which included testing only those symptomatic. When they changed their guidelines, we followed them."

"The Centre isn't fighting coronavirus pandemic. The state are. West Bengal has been cooperating. During a health emergency, politics should be left far out of it. We are going all out in the fight against coronavirus. Is this the spirit of federalism? We really need to know what were the parameters based on which the states where the central teams have been sent were selected."

7) Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police has cordoned off the area outside the BSF camp where one of the teams from New Delhi is putting up. The area has been barricaded and vehicles are being checked.

8) Reacting to these developments, Union minister and Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal Babul Supriyo attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and called her a "virus". In a tweet, he wrote: "We are not just fighting Covid-19 but (we are) fighting a more dangerous VIRUS in West Bengal and that's the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool congress. It's just a matter of time that the antibodies against the virus called Didi will start working in West Bengal."

We R just not fighting #COVID2019 but fighting a more dangerous VIRUS in West Bengal &that’s the WB Govt led by @MamataOfficial & @AITCofficial It’s just a matter of time that the antibodies against the virus called Didi will start working in West Bengal @BJP4India @BJP4Bengal — Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) April 21, 2020

9) West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh too was quick to respond. He tweeted: "The central team is visiting the state in accordance with the Disaster Management Act. False information and theft of the state government might be caught red-handed: there is this fear. The state government is creating a situation of crisis in conspiracy with the rice mills so that people are forced to buy rice from the market at higher rates."

10) Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar in a tweet appealed to the state government to "co-operate" with the central team. "My appeal to all: Support government to contain and combat corona curse. My request to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to synergetic ally cooperate with the central team to wean away the miseries of people. Cooperation and not confrontation between Centre and state must (sic)," Governor Dhankar wrote in a tweet tagging Mamata Banerjee and the Prime Minister's Office.

(With inputs from Indrajit Kundu, Poulami Shaha and Manogya Loiwal)

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