Date:17/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/17/stories/2007041703011200.htm

National

Nandigram: Sonia criticises Left Front

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has rapped the handling of the Nandigram issue by the Left Front Government in West Bengal as she faulted it with "forcible" acquisition of fertile land.

Faulting the State Government for the "needless loss of life" in Nandigram, she said, "The issue is not industrialisation. It is the forcible acquisition of fertile land from villagers who do not wish to part with it."

Her remarks came in a "letter to Congress workers" carried in the latest issue of the party publication `Congress Sandesh.' — PTI