Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the presence of the army in West Bengal to which the Trinamool has taken exception was a routine drill. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/MintHyderabad: Taking exception to the Trinamool Congress’ “coup” allegation after the army’s presence at toll plazas in West Bengal, union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said it is not in national interest to drag the armed forces into controversies. The presence of the army in West Bengal to which the Trinamool has taken exception was a routine drill and there was nothing new in it, he said. There is nothing like deploying Army, coup, nothing like that. Presence of army personnel at toll plazas in West Bengal had kicked up a storm with chief minister Mamata Banerjee remaining at the state secretariat overnight in protest, asking was it an “army coup”.

Source: Mint December 03, 2016 11:06 UTC