National

Mamata visits Nandigram

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee hit the campaign trail on Saturday addressing an election meeting in Nandigram just a couple of hours before the close of electioneering for the by-election to be held on Monday.

Addressing the gathering, which included the mother of Rizwanur Rahman as well as Becharam Manna from Singur, she said the day marked the death of a young boy protesting the acquisition of land for setting up a SEZ. “That death marked the beginning of the Nandigram agitation. We want peace, we do not want any bloodshed, but we want justice to be brought to the people,” she said.

TMC has pitted Firoza Bibi, the boy’s mother as its candidate against CPI candidate Paramananda Bharati fielded by the Left Front. The seat had fallen vacant after the resignation of CPI candidate Md. Ilyias on charges of bribery. Ms. Banerjee undertook the over three-hour long drive to Nandigram after sitting on a night-long ‘dharna’ near Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s residence. Ms. Banerjee was demanding release of the 18 persons arrested on Saturday on charges of destroying public property and assaulting policemen during the rampage by autorickshaw drivers in the city on Friday. She said that she had staged a four-hour sit-in, as the police had beaten up and arrested innocents during the agitation.

She alleged that the industrial drive of the State government was a bogus one with so many units lying closed.

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