Bengal

Junglemahal shows Mamata its gratitude

• The Statesman
• 17 May 2014

biswabrata goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 16 May
The tribal-dominated Jhargram parliamentary constituency which was once the hotbed of Maoist insurgency, voted the most for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s candidate, Ms Uma Soren, expressing their ‘love'  for her for maintaining peace in the forested land.
As a result, Ms Soren defeated her close contender, Dr Pulin Bihari Baske, a CPI-M candidate with a huge margin of more than 3 lakh votes.
A no-industry zone, this constituency has witnessed years of violence triggered by Maoists. In 2008, Junglemahal attracted nation-wide attention because of the killings and encounters between Maoists and security force personnel. For nearly three years since then, the region has been on the boil. But the turning point came with the death of Maoist leader Kishenji in November 2011. Junglemahal has seen no incidents of murder or abduction by Maoists in the last two years.
Restoration of peace in Junglemahal had raised expectations of Trinamul Congress that the party might be able to improve upon its tally of the Junglemahal seats in this election.
After the change of power in the state, Miss Banerjee had taken numerous steps for the development of the tribal lands and uplift of the tribal populace. She brought all people living in Junglemahal under the BPL category and introduced the scheme through which all communities in Junglemahal will get rice at Rs 2 per kg every week. Today, with peace restored, life is back to normal in this region. There is no fear of violence or of police raids or bandhs.
As per the promises made by Miss Banerjee, colleges, schools and community halls are coming up. Ponds are being dug under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
A Rs 60 crore bridge is being built from Lalgarh to Aamkola.
The state government has also employed more than 10,000 youths from the region in the police department. This has obviously made an impact among the tribal people who came out in large numbers during the polling day and voted for Mamata Banerjee’s candidate.

Bengal

TMC stars pocket ghatal, midnapore

• The Statesman
• 17 May 2014

dev wins with a whooping margin against santosh rana
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 16 May
As the electoral battle in both the Midnapore and Ghatal parliamentary constituencies were tilted towards stardom, the Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's, star candidates,-  Dipak Adhikari (Dev) and Sandhya Roy won with whopping margins against their Left front candidates.
The contest in both the constituencies, though, was of truly fabled proportions, between novices and politically matured communist leaders.
Mrs Sandhya Roy, one of the leading ladies of Bengali cinema in the 1960s and a first-time candidate defeated the CPI candidate Mr Prabodh Panda with a margin of more than 1.8 lakhs votes. The CPI candidate's fate has been viewed particularly as tragic as the seat was represented by legendary parliamentarian and Marxist ideologue Indrajit Gupta for seven terms between 1980 and 1999.
Dev, a Tollywood star, on the other hand, managed an entry into political arena by defeating the CPI candidate Santosh Rana from Ghatal which is known as the stronghold of the Left for the past few decades.
Many political observers felt that fielding star candidates in the Left-dominated constituencies would stopped the winning run of the Left and this came true for these two constituencies where Ms Banerjee used the two celebrities as her trump cards.
In East Midnapore, the Adhikari dynasty continued its winning ways in the electoral battle where the veteran Trinamul Congress leader Sisir Adhikari from Kanthi constituency has defeated his close contestant Mr Tapas Sinha, a CPI-M candidate with a huge margin. Mr Sinha, a young candidate of the Left Front failed to make any crack in the Adhikari dynasty as he could not earn the faiths of the common people.
Like Mr Sinha, another young CPI-M candidate Sheikh Ibrahim Ali also failed to make any meaningful inroad on Mr Adhikari's son Subhendu's vote bank. Subhendu underscored his clear sweep in the constituency with a margin of more than 1.3 lakhs votes.
The victory of Subhendu Adhikari, a prime architect of the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in 2007, came to a certain point on 27 March - the day former CPI-M MP and Haldia strongman Lakshman Seth was expelled from the party.
The main Opposition - the Left Front - had been in disarray in the district for the past few years, which got compounded since the expulsion of Mr Seth.

Bengal

Brisk voting turnout in Tamluk, Contai and Ghatal

• The Statesman
• 13 May 2014

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Tamluk, 12 May
Polling for Tamluk, Contai and Ghatal parliamentary constituencies was marked by sporadic incidents of violence, booth jamming, rigging and intimidation. These two constituencies put up strong numbers much like the previous rounds of polling.
The turnout at 6 pm recorded by the Election Commission (EC) was 86.26% for Tamluk constituency, 85.44% for Contai constituency and 84.93% for Ghatal constituency.
The election special observers expressed satisfaction over the voting process. They, however, said that it was by-and-large peaceful, barring a few stray incidents of violence.
The Oppositions, CPI-M and Congress, however, brought several allegations of booth jamming, booth capturing and rigging against the ruling Trinamul Congress. The Left Front leaders are likely to lodge complaints with the EC with a demand of re-polling at 151 booths in Tamluk constituency alone.
Mr Tapas Sinha, a CPI-M candidate, who is taking on the veteran Trinamul Congress leader Mr Sisir Adhikari held the Trinamul Congress responsible for violating all types of election rules during the poll. He alleged that polling agents were beaten up and prevented from manning booths in several areas which include Chandipur, Bhagwanpur, Pataspur, Khejuri, Contai-North and South.
Mr Sinha who was critically beaten up by a group of unruly Trinamul Congress cadres at Bhagwanpur two days ago, also alleged that the prime accused, Nantu Pradhan, had captured at least three booths in Chandipur and cast all votes in favour of his party candidate in presence of police and security officers while he is being treated as an absconder.
The CPI-M leaders in Contai alleged that at least 70 booths of this constituency were captured and the party agents were beaten up. At several booths, voters were not allowed to exercise their franchises and they were forced to go back to their houses.
 “Electorates were intimidated by the ruling party workers at several areas. Election observers behaved like tourists and they preferred to stay either in Digha or in Haldia”, Mr Sinha alleged.
In Nandigram, which falls under Tamluk constituency, at least 100 booths were captured by the Trinamul Congress workers. With the beginning of the poll, Trinamul workers started capturing most of the booths in Gokulnagar, Sonachura and Samsabad areas and fake votes were cast. The situation was so serious that around 60 per cent polls took place within 10 am, the Left Front leaders alleged.
This apart, 27 booths in Haldia municipal area and 14 booths in Moyna were also rigged by the ruling party workers.
A state intelligence official said the degree of rigging at Nandigram was so furious that the ruling party candidate Mr Subhendu Adhikari who was the architect of the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in 2007 is likely to win the poll with a largest margin against the opponent in West Bengal.
Mr Adhikari, however, brushed aside the allegation and said, “People have exercised their franchises freely and fearlessly. As the Opposition was confirmed of its defeat again in Tamluk, it has placed false allegation against our party. Nandigram people know what the CPI-M leaders did in their regime.”
In Ghatal constituency, the CPI-M and the Congress have held the Trinamul Congress for exercising a large scale of intimidation on the electorates, booth capturing, booth jamming and rigging.
Mr Santosh Rana, a CPI candidate who is contesting against the Tollywood star Dipak Adhikari (Dev) was himself prevented by a group of Trinamul workers at two booths (221 and 222) in Keshpur when he had gone there to verify the allegation of booth jamming from his party workers. Later, the security forces rescued him from clutches of the angered Trinamul workers and brought the situation under control.
A CPI worker, identified as Sheikh Matiuddin, was critically beaten up by the Trinamul workers when he had gone to cast his vote at Majurhati. One of the legs was broken and he was taken to the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital. A local voter, named Abed Ali, was also beaten up and he suffered head injuries as the attackers beat him up with lathis.
In Beldoba village, a total of 450 electorates were gheraoed in their village till evening to prevent them from going to the booths. The CPI leaders alleged that the commission did not take any action even after repeated complaints were lodged.
In  Pngla, a CPI party office was vandalised and three persons were injured when the Trinamul Congress workers attacked them. In Harbandi village, a CPI agent, Nakul Kar, was kidnapped by the ruling party workers for several hours. He was later released just a few hours before the end of the polls.
In Ghatal, a considerable number of booths (2, 10, 24, 25, 27, 37, 38, 64, 69, 71, 72, 73) were captured by the ruling party workers.
A CPI-M local committee secretary was also beaten up by the Trinamul workers when he came out of a booth after casting his vote, the Left Front leaders alleged. The CPI is likely to appeal before the EC for re-poll at 95 booths in Ghatal
As the spotlight in this round was on Ghatal, where Trinamul’s star candidate, Dev, was taking on Mr Santosh Rana, special security was given to him.

Bengal

Acid test for CPI-M in Contai parliamentary seat

• The Statesman
• 11 May 2014

biswabrata goswami
Contai, 10 May: The electoral battle for the Contai parliamentary seat will be an acid test for the Opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) as it’s young candidate would take on the veteran Trinamul Congress candidate Mr Sisir Adhikari, who has  completed over 51 years in public life representing people in the gram panchayat, municipality, Assembly and Parliament.
The CPI-M candidate, Mr Tapas Sinha, however, has no such experience like Mr Adhikari, but he has led the largest youth organ, World Federation of Democratic Youth, as coordinator for three times and he adorned the highest posts of Democratic Youth Federation of India for consecutive few years in recent times. To win the battle, he has left no stones unturned.
Taking on the challenge will be the CPI-M’s 48-year-old Mr Sinha, who worked up the ladder, beginning as a student leader and going on to become a state committee member of the party.
But, at 73, Mr Adhikari is not willing to misjudge the young opponent and he is doing everything to win the polls. This strategic view could have made the battle tough for the young comrade.
“Whoever be the opponent, whatever be his or her strength, I do not take anyone lightly…. I contest the polls to win,” said Mr Adhikari, who had also served his duties as chairman of Contai Municipality for 33 years.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Adhikari had won by over 1.29 lakh votes. The cumulative margin came down to around 82,000 in the 2011 Assembly elections, but the war horse is sure to sail through without any hiccups even this time.
Mr Sinha, on the flipside, is hoping to win the poll based on the facts which he believes that young voters would cast their votes in favour of his party. “Young voters should thoroughly evaluate the capability of the contesting candidates to ensure development for the area”, said a CPI-M leader. Political analysts feel that it is important for the young voters,  about 40 per cent of the registered voters, to consider the factors of networking and support system for the candidate for development.

Bengal

Junglemahal: Polling peaceful

• The Statesman
• 08 May 2014

Sporadic incidents of violence, allegations of rigging in a few blocks
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 7 May
The fourth leg of the five-phase parliamentary polls in the state, were largely peaceful in the most sensitive Junglemahal constituencies of West Midnapore – Jhargram and Midnapore today, barring some sporadic incidents of violence in a few blocks of the district.
The Election Commission recorded a voter turn out of 87.88% in Jhargram constituency and 81.45% at Midnapore constituency as the 10-hour-long polling ended at 5 p.m. However, polling hours in some booths in Jhargram constituency were restricted and the polling was ended in these booths at 3 p.m.  The numbers may increase as people were waiting outside polling stations even after the end of the polling time at few booths.
The district election officer expressed satisfaction over the voting process. He said that it was largely peaceful and no major incident was reported.
The Opposition CPI-M and Congress, however, brought several allegations of booth jamming, booth capturing and rigging against the ruling Trinamul Congress.
The Left Front leaders are likely to lodge complaints with the EC with a demand of re-polling at 70 booths in Midnapore constituency alone.
The CPI-M district secretary Mr Dipak Sarkar, alleged that polling agents were beaten up and prevented from manning the booths in several areas of both the constituencies. He also alleged a lot of booths across Midnapore and Jhargram were captured by the Trinamul Congress activists and fake votes were cast.
Mr Prabodh Panda, a contesting CPI candidate from Midnapore constituency alleged that at least 70 booths of his constituency were captured and his party agents were beaten up.
Mr Panda himself was gheraoed by a group of Trinamul workers when he went to cast his franchise at booth no. 284 of Nirmal Hriday Girls School at around 7.30 am. The Trinamul workers alleged that he used the vehicle where MP’s sticker was pasted. 
A polling agent identified as Jiten Roy (50) of Baharkhola booth was critically beaten up by the Trinamul Congress workers when he came out from the booth at around 2.30 pm. The attackers picked him up from inside the booth premises and took him to a nearby jungle. After beating him mercilessly, they abandoned him in the forest. A cyclist spotted him and informed the police who rescued him from the site and admitted him to the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.
In Kesiary, at least 17 booths were rigged till 12.30 pm, but the security personnel took no action even after complaints lodged with the returning officer, Mr Panda alleged. Reporters and photographers were also not allowed in the booth premises of most booths in Kesiary and a reporter of a leading Bengali newspaper was beaten up when he tried to get entry into a booth.
Mr Panda also alleged that security personnel were not deployed at several booths in Kesiary, Narayangarh, Dantan and Kharagpur (Rural) booths.
Central security forces were deployed across all booths in Jhargram constituency, which was once hotbed of Maoist insurgency. Helicopters, with a medical support team on board, were pressed into service in the affected areas. Bomb disposal squads, road opening parties and anti-landmine vehicles too were taken on stand-by for emergency services in this region.
During the trip along the forested routes for remote booths, adequate numbers of security personnel were seen on duty.
Tribal residents who queued in front of most of the booths since early morning for casting their franchises were fearless. “Ekhan amader kono bhai nei maobadi nie. Tai vote dite sakal thekei line-e dariechi (Now, we have no fear about Maoists. So, we have come to stand in the queue to cast my vote), said Ekata Mandi, an aged resident of Lalgarh.
The CPI-M leadership accused the ruling party of unleashing terror at many booths in Garbeta and Salboni. "At least 90 agents of our party were removed from the booths and they were later either beaten up or threatened on dire consequences. Four polling agents are still missing. We will lodge a complaint with the returning officer tonight”, said a CPI-M leader.
BJP leaders have alleged that their party agents of at least 50 booths in Egra were taken out from the booths and they were later beaten up. The wife of a BJP leader was allegedly molested by Trinamul workers last night in Egra. A complaint has already been lodged with the Egra police. The BJP alleged that over 70 per cent booths in Egra, Narayangarh, Kesiary and Dantan didn't have Central forces.
The district Trinamul Congress leadership has, however, denied the allegations.

Bengal

M’pore tilting towards stardom

• The Statesman
• 07 May 2014

Left leaders admit that it is becoming difficult  to counter roy’s glamour quotient
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 6 May
The electoral battle in the Midnapore parliamentary constituency is truly fabled proportions between a novice and a politically matured one.
While sitting MP Prabodh Panda of the CPI is fighting to retain his seat for the third time, his closest rival is Ms Sandhya Roy of the Trinamul Congress, one of the leading ladies of Bengali cinema in the 1960s and a first-time candidate.
The buzz in the constituency is that despite his years in public service, Mr Panda seemed worried that a novice like Ms Sen, could turn the tables on him.
The yesteryear actress Ms Roy is one of the most famous actresses of romantic Bengali cinema and is widely acknowledged for her great acting skills and sweet and cherubic face from 1960 to 1985.
Being a versatile actress, she has experimented successfully with character-roles and second leads such as playing the sister-in-law in the fist movie of Tapas Paul Dadar Kirti or in Sriman Prithviraj.
It is her effortless acting prowess that made her equally comfortable in the critically acclaimed ventures such as Satyajit Ray's Ashani Sanket and Tarun Majumdar's Thagini and the out-and-out commercial venture such as Baba Taraknath. If the turnout is an indicator of poll results then Ms Roy is expected to put up a good fight tomorrow when she takes on Mr Panda. Midnapore is one of the six seats that will go to poll in the fourth phase in West Bengal.
On the flipside, the CPI candidate’s fate could be viewed particularly as tragic as the seat was represented by legendary parliamentarian and Marxist ideologue Indrajit Gupta for seven terms between 1980 and 1999.
Left leaders admit that it is getting increasingly harder to counter the glamour quotient the film actress has brought to the constituency.
Though, Mr Panda is very much optimistic of winning the poll with a greater margin and said, “Ms Roy hasn’t made any public speech about issues in Midnapore.”
“These non-political people are set to bring down the standard of Parliament,” he said.
Ms Roy, however, said, “The feelers I am getting are very positive. I am new to politics and have come here only on the insistence of Ms Mamata Banerjee.”
She also said: “I could not deny the call of Didi to come forward and work for the welfare of the common people. I readily agreed to it since I have a very close rapport with the people of Midnapore. I have staged innumerable plays and Jatras in Midnapore. I am therefore 100 per cent compatible with the electorates here. I am new in politics, but I will soon get accustomed to the ways of it.” Ms Sandhya Roy has become a tourist attraction with her rented second floor flat in Rabindranagar in the heart of Midnapore town, being watched by a group of people at all times of the day hoping to catch a glimpse of the actor.
Local Left leaders have been campaigning hard saying that actors cannot do what seasoned politicians can, but their cries get desperate as the star status of their opponents seems to be tilting the election in their favour.
“Not all of them might vote for the stars but right now it has become difficult for us to determine what percentage of voters will vote for us,” said a CPI-M leader.
The Left Front has made a clean sweep at Midnapore in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections several times in a row barring the last Assembly polls. Even, during the parivartan wave in the last parliamentary polls, the Left had won four Assembly constituencies.
In the 2008 panchayat polls when much of Bengal reeled under the Singur-Nandigram effect, the CPI-M and its allies managed to win major numbers of gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishad seats.
Left sympathisers, in search of a bit of 'red' hope, may find succour in these glorious electoral statistics. But if they travel through interior Midnapore, the more sensitive among them may also be driven to deep despair because the stark truth is that even after 34 years of Left Front rule and uninterrupted CPI-M dominance, the levels of poverty and under-development are staggering.

Bengal

Junglemahal voters don’t expect change

The Statesman

• 06 May 2014

Higher turnout likely as Jhargram goes to polls on 7 May
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Jhargram, 5 May
Most people in tribal-dominated Jhargram parliamentary constituency, which was once the hotbed of Maoist insurgency are not quite aware of the “real power” the Constitution has bestowed on them, yet they will turn up in large numbers to vote on 7 May.
Obviously, this Junglemahal constituency is expected to witness a high percentage of voters, though not many tribals expect things to change after the elections.
Mr Ambar Tudu of Kantapahari village is ready to cast his vote, but he does not have much expectation from the new MP.
“Voter par keu ekhane asbena, tabe vote na dile, ora amake mrito bole ghosona karbe (After the polls, no one comes here. But if I do not vote, they would declare me dead),” said Mr Tudu, adding that if his name got deleted from the voters' list, he might not get the benefits of the various welfare schemes.
In the hinterland of Kantapahari, many like Mr Tudu, vote just for the sake of it.
A trip to the remote villages of this constituency reveals that the Mamata Banerjee government has tried to reach the doorsteps of many villages with various development schemes but there are numerous villages like Kantapahari spread across the constituency which are still untouched.
“Unnayan to hoeche, tabe prayajaner tulanai kam (Development has not been as much as was needed),” said Mr Manoj Soren, a Santhal youth from Belpahari.
A no-industry zone, this constituency has witnessed years of violence triggered by Maoists. In 2008, Junglemahal attracted nation-wide attention because of killings and encounters between Maoists and security force personnel. For nearly three years since then, the region has been on the boil. But the turning point came with the death of Maoist leader Kishenji in November 2011. Junglemahal has seen no incidents of murder or abduction by Maoists in the last two years.
Restoration of peace in Junglemahal has raised expectations in the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamul Congress that the party may be able to improve upon its tally of Junglemahal seats in this election.  Today, with peace restored, life is back to normal in this region.  There is no fear of violence of police raids, or bandhs.
Peace has also brought in a frenetic pace of development activity to the area.
Colleges, schools and community halls are coming up. Ponds are being dug under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
A Rs 60 crore bridge is being built from Lalgarh to Aamkola to reduce the distance to Jhargram subdivision by 12 km. People call the bridge a fantasy, an impossible dream coming true. What is interesting is that though a major chunk of the funds comes from the Centre, credit goes to the state government.
The state government has also employed more than 10,000 youths from the region in the police department. “Till today, we are receiving applications from Junglemahal youths who are very keen to join the police force by ignoring the Maoist threat,” said Mr Sukumar Hansda, minister for development of western region.
Nearly 40 per cent people in the Jhargram constituency are tribals and 28 per cent belong to Scheduled Castes. Though the CM’s scheme of Rs 2 a kg of rice per week to all communities in Junglemahal has made an impact.
But, a contrasting picture emerges in several gram-panchayat areas including Belpahari, Silda, Nayagram, Gopiballavpur and Binpur.
Many people here are landless and belong to the Scheduled Castes and other backward castes. There is a severe shortage of water for agriculture.
There are no wells or ponds and only one hand-pump for two villages.
Sukdev Soren, a young resident of Nayagram, said, “The villagers are very poor. To survive, everyone is forced to work as labour. I don't know how to express my pain. There is no help from any side. Political leaders come during the elections and promise to do this and that, but no one does anything.”
The Jhargham seat is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. Sitting MP Dr Pulin Baske  of the CPI-M has blamed the Trinamul government for lapses in implementation.
He said, “In the last 10 years I have done a lot of work during my tenure in the panchayat as a Zilla Parishad Sabhadipati. I have got the National Award also for literacy movements, sanitation campaigning and rural development. The TMC government has been in power for three years, but the result is nothing.”
Ms Anita Hansda, a Congress candidate, however, feels that Maoist menace had stalled the development initiative in this region.  Her party would only be an  alternative to give pace in the ‘real’ development works.
Dr Uma Soren, a Trinamul Congress candidate said, “I will be trying to fulfil Mamata Banerjee's dream to make Junglemahal a showpiece.”
But, peace in Junglemahal has brought hope and opportunity for some.  The challenge will be to reach the unreached. 

Page1

Mamata rejects Rajnath’s offer on Bengal package

• The Statesman
• 04 May 2014

biswabrata goswami

NANDIGRAM, 3 MAY: Reacting to BJP president Rajnath Singh’s assurance yesterday of a Bengal package if the party is voted to power, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today rejected the offer and said:  “We do not want a package. We do not want alms. We want return of the money deducted by the Centre for the loans taken by the previous Left Front government.”   She claimed at an election rally today that the Centre deducted Rs 1 lakh crore as interest from the state.
 Miss Banerjee dared the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, Mr Narendra Modi, to implement his promise of sending Bangladeshis packing after 16 May if his party comes to power, saying that the 'paper tiger' should first meet the 'Royal Bengal Tiger'.
“Touch a single person, we will see. The paper tiger should know there is a Royal Bengal tiger in Sunderbans. First you face that,” Miss Banerjee told an election meeting here.
Claiming that the Gujarat Chief Minister did not know history, she said that Bangladeshis came to India under a pact signed in 1971 by  Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.
Later today, while campaigning for TMC’s Sudip Bandopadhyay, she took a swipe at the Opposition for demanding a CBI probe into the Saradha chit fund scam and said: “Those who are demanding a CBI probe seem to have forgotten that this agency's investigation did not amount to much when it was looking  into the death of Tapasi Malik, the Nandigram massacre and
Netai killings”.

‘TMc has failed to woo industry’

The Statesman 

5 May 2014

Former bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee alleged at a rally in Tamluk
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Nimtouri (Tamluk), 4 May
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today accused the Mamata Banerjee government of impairing development in the state, saying it has failed to woo new industries. He also minced no words to criticise the Trinamul regime on the rising crime graph against women.
“The government has taken the state backward in both industry and agriculture. It has not taken a single step towards industrialisation compared to what was done by us. No new industry has come up under the new regime,” said the CPI-M politburo leader, addressing an election campaign rally at Nimtouri.
He claimed that industries like JSW steel, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant had set foot in the state during the Left Front rule, but now “investors are realising that this government will not do anything to bring new industry”.
In Haldia, no industry has come up after the change of power in the state, but we had done much for the development of the Haldia industries. The steel plant in Salboni is moving out of the state. Wipro and Infosys have said that they won’t come, Mr Bhattacharjee said calling upon voters to ensure that a government that takes up alternative policies is formed in Delhi.
He said that if the Left becomes more powerful, it can stop passage of unjust laws.
“The Congress had already admitted defeat. They had accomplished next to nothing in their 10-year rule. Where there used to be about eight to ten super rich businessmen in India, the number has now crossed a hundred. On the flipside, poverty, hunger, and unemployment are eating into the country. The Prime Minister has failed to control prices. He has voluntarily surrendered control over the cost of petrol and diesel. People gave the Congress time, and it has failed them,” he said.
Mr Bhattacherjee said “our work does not end with the defeat of the Congress, because if one road is bad, the other one next to it is the terrible force of the BJP, which plans to divide the country along communal lines. Our plan is to send away the Congress and stop the BJP.”
Describing BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as “dangerous”, Mr Bhattacharjee said the power would go in the hands of industrialists if he took charge of the top post.
He said an alternative government without the Congress and the BJP could be formed at the Centre. “The government of an alternative front without the Congress and the BJP could be formed at the Centre. Because, the total number of votes garnered by the opposition parties is always more than the combined votes of Congress and BJP,” he said.
Mr Bhattacharjee referred to the terrible experience of the people in the Saradha scam, saying that a betrayal of such huge proportions would not be tolerated. He reminded people of how the farce of the School Service Commission examinations had insulted the youth of the state. Public funds were being wasted on large government “utsavs” (festivals).