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CPI(M), Congress leaders meet Governor

KOLKATA: A delegation of senior leaders of the CPI(M), including some Parliamentarians, and another comprising Congress leaders separately called on the West Bengal Governor, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, here on Friday to apprise him of the situation in Nandigram.

While the former brought to his attention the growing presence of Maoists who “needed to be tackled,” the Congress demanded the deployment of the Army and sought Mr. Gandhi’s intervention “to protect the people there.”

Speaking to newspersons, Tarit Topdar, MP, said the CPI(M) leaders had asked the Governor “to be sympathetic” to the plight of supporters of “both sides [the CPI(M) and Opposition],” who had been affected by the violence.

He said the delegation pointed out that those involved in what was being projected as a movement in Nandigram “involves not just the Trinamool Congress or the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh (Resistance against Land Eviction) Committee but also the naxalites, who have started dominating the situation there.”

“There is a need to tackle the Maoists. For this, the State government had sought the deployment of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), to which a Union Minister from the State was opposed, contrary to how the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, had reportedly viewed the situation.”

The MP’s reference was apparently to Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, who was reported to have said in New Delhi last week that he was opposed to the deployment of the CRPF.

The Trinamool and the BUPC had paved the way for the Maoists entering Nandigram, Mr. Topdar said.

Manas Bhunia, leader of the Congress Legislature Party, who led the Congress delegation, said CPI(M) cadres were ‘continuing their atrocities’ against the people of the area and the police were “mute witnesses” to the goings-on.

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