Kolkata, Aug 7 - Asking the West Bengal government to move swiftly to check the sale of illegal arms and bring criminals to account, Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi has expressed his anguish at the rising level of political violence in the state.

In an emotional but hard-hitting statement Thursday night, the governor -- a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi -- observed that West Bengal was witnessing a 'veritable tandava of political violence'. In Hindu mythology, tandava is the dance of destruction of Lord Shiva.

Gopal Krishna Gandhi asked political leaders cutting across party lines to identify violent people within their own organisations and leave them to be dealt with by the law.

'The state too will, I am confident, (i) move swiftly to check the phenomenon of illicit arms; (ii) act to rapidly bring the perpetrators of violence to account; and (iii) instil confidence among the people that their politics and their security are not linked,' he said in the wake of widespread political clashes in the state since the Lok Sabha elections this April-May.

The governor recalled Mahatma Gandhi's words: 'There can be no reconstruction or hope for this land of ours, unless we eradicate the worship of force in all its forms, and establish work on a basis other than violence.' The grandson said: 'Ninety years later, that grim prognosis rings true again.'

'Following the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha, our state has witnessed a veritable tandava of political violence.