A three member team of the Union Home Ministry has arrived in Kolkata to review law and order situation in West Bengal. The team headed by the Additional Secretary of the Union Home Ministry Mr. D.R.S. Choudhary will meet the State Chief Secretary Mr. Ashok Mohan Chakraborty and top brass of the administration in Kolkata today. The team is likely to visit political violence hit areas in the state.<br/><br/>Earlier, the Home Minister Mr. P Chidambaram assured both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha that the visit of the Central team to West Bengal is in consultation with the state government. He urged the members not to view the deployment of Central team through the prism of Article 356 which empowers Centre to dismiss a state government in the event of a constitutional breakdown. Slogan shouting, Left MPs forced adjournments in the two Houses with many of them objecting to the visit of the Central team. They also alleged that the move aimed at undermining the authority of the state government. Dispelling apprehensions of the members, Mr. Chidambaram informed them that he had discussed the law and order situation in West Bengal with the Chief Minister Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in the wake of inter-party clashes. These clashes lead to the death of many cadres of the CPIM and Trinamool Congress. Mr. Chidambaram asserted there is no reason to read anything confrontational in the visit of the central team because the objective is to assist the state government on the law and order front. Earlier, while taking a dig at the Left parties for supporting Central rule in the BJP ruled Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in 1992, the Leader of the Opposition Mr. L K Advani cautioned the centre against invoking Article 356 in West Bengal. Earlier there were heated exchanges between the Left and Trinamool Congress members over the issue. The Samajwadi Party and BJP members also joined the Left seeking a categorical assurance from the government that this will not lead to central interference in West Bengal.<br/><br/>The Congress in the meantime evaded a direct reply on the invocation of Article 356 in West Bengal saying it is for the government to take a view on the issue. . Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Party spokesman Dr Shakeel Ahmad said that though the party has received complaints regarding the law and order situation in West Bengal from various quarters, the final decision will be taken only by the government<br/><br/>The Trinamool Congress Chief and Railway Minister, Ms.Mamta Banerjee has welcomed the Union Home Minister Mr.P.Chidabmram’s statement in the both Houses of the Parliament. Talking to newsmen in Kolkata, Ms. Banerjee said that the visit of the Central Team proves that the law and order situation in the state has completely broken down. The Trinamool Chief demanded imposition of article 356 of the constitution to end political violence in the state.<br/><br/>The CPI (M) termed the Center’s decision to sent a team to West Bengal as unfortunate and regrettable, saying it is an assault on the federal structure mandated by the Constitution. In a statement, the party Politburo said the politically motivated demand by the Trinamool Congress is against the spirit of Constitution and amounts to gross interference in the affairs of the state government.<br/><br/> <br/><br/> <br/>