Monday, May 27, 2013

BJP trying to get close to TMC: Buddhadeb Bhattacharya


By withdrawing its candidate for the Howrah Lok Sabha by-election, BJP was trying to get close to Trinamool Congress and gain a footing in West Bengal, CPI(M) PB member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee claimed. He was speaking at a public metting organised as part of election campaign to Howrah bye election.  "BJP is sending a message to Trinamool Congress, which has broken its tie-up with Congress, by withdrawing its candidate, that its doors are open," Bhattacharjee said at a public meeting in howrah.  Claiming that the Trinamool Congress and the BJP were going for a tie-up in the coming general elections, the former chief minister said, "Narendra Modi's BJP wants to enter the political arena of the state, where it has little foothold, and create communal disharmony."

As such, the Trinamool Congress cannot be supported," the party's politburo member said while campaigning for CPI(M) candidate Sridip Bhattacharya for the by-election, which was necessitated by the demise of Trinamool Congress MP Ambika Banerjee. "People neither want Congress nor BJP, they want other forces to unite and come forward," Bhattacharjee said.  "People are not happy with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for selling off state-owned companies, decontrolling petrol and diesel and failure to start a PDS system," he said.

He also claimed that the state was suffering from lack of job creation, flight of industries to other states and lawlessness. "Given this situation, if a Left candidate goes to Lok Sabha from Howrah, it will send a strong message," Bhattacharjee said.

The leader also alleged that anti-social elements were playing a significant part in the affairs of the Trinamool Congress, referring to the murder of a TMC leader at Bally in Howrah district for daring to stand up against real estate developers.

Barbaric Maoist Attack Condemned

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the barbaric attack by the Maoists on a convoy carrying Congress leaders participating in the ‘parivartan yatra’ of the party in Bastar district of Chattisgarh. The attack has led to the death of 18 people including senior Congress leaders like the state Congress President and injuries to several others. This is the latest and most shocking example of the politics of violence and terror practiced by the Maoists against all their political opponents.

The Chattisgarh government is answerable for the reported lack of security arrangements for the yatra. On the one hand the BJP government allows the killing of innocent tribals as happened last week in the name of fighting the Maoists and on the other hand it utterly fails to protect legitimate democratic activities in the state.

The CPI(M) extends its condolences to the families of all those killed. It demands a high level enquiry into the incident. It also demands firm action to be taken to stop these Maoists depredations. It calls upon all democratic forces to fight the politics of violence by the Maoists.