Left Front holds rally at Lalgarh

The alleged links between the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists were reiterated at a Left Front rally in Lalgarh in Paschim Medinipur district on Friday.

This is significant, as it is the first public meeting held by the Left there since the area became an epicentre of Maoist activities and the Maoist-backed Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (PSBJC) two years ago. “Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee was unsuccessful in ousting the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from this region so she asked Maoist leader Kishenji to do this task for them,” said Sushanta Ghosh, the State's Minister for Paschimanchal Unnayan Affairs.

Kishenji is now repeatedly saying that he wants to see Ms. Banerjee as the next Chief Minister, he added. Ghosh said "she is a dictator who demands withdrawal of joint forces to give Maoists a free run in the West Midnapore district to create lawlessness."

"But, people will resist with all their might," he said.

Claiming that peace had returned to Lalgarh with the return of CPI(M) after driving away Maoists, Ghosh said "but Mamata won't allow peace to return. She is also intentionally not allowing the Jindal group to set up industry here."

He said that Mamata wanted to dislodge the Left Front government, which represented the poor and the landless.

Dipak Sarkar, secretary, District Committee of the CPI(M), attended the rally.

The rally was held less than two months after a large number of CPI (M) supporters, evicted from their homes in the face of Maoist onslaught, returned. Bearing the party flag, an estimated 12,000 people marched from Dharampur to Lalgarh and reopened the CPI (M) local committee office there, closed since June 16, 2009.

Commenting on the rally, Biman Bose, Chairman of the State Left Front Committee, told journalists that it is not fair to compare it with Trinamool's August 9 rally addressed by Ms. Banerjee.

“Supporters of the Trinamool from other districts had also gone to the rally in August, but this rally was only limited to one block of the district.”

Asked to comment on the ongoing controversy over the exchange of letters between Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Mr. Bose said the language of Mr. Chidambaram's letter resembled that of the deputation submitted to him by the Trinamool.

“We are only asking Mr. Chidambaram not to act in a partisan manner,” he said.

(Source : The Hindu)