Fascist rule in West Bengal, India

Cong trains attack guns on Trinamul

OUR BUREAU13.11.11

Pradip Bhattacharya Nov. 12: Senior Congress leaders today criticised Trinamul at two separate meetings, angry that their partymen were being attacked by activists of the ruling partner. At one of the meetings in Murshidabad, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was present when Congress state president Pradip Bhattacharya railed at the Trinamul Congress. The alliance has been under fresh strain after the November 3 petrol price hike. After the petrol price rise announcement, Mamata had spoken of quitting the alliance. She had also said that in “coalition governments, allies’ opinions are equally important”. Today, Bhattacharya spoke in the same vein. “Uni ja bolben shetai thik aar aamra ja bolbo shob mittha, eta hote pare na. (It can’t be that whatever she says is true and whatever we say is false.),” he told the panchayati raj convention in Behrampore where Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury was also present. “We made an alliance with Trinamul to strengthen the Congress, not to weaken it. But attempts are being made to wipe out our party by sponsoring consistent attacks on us across the state,” Bhattacharya said. Adhir threatened to launch a protest march against the state government if it did not purchase paddy from farmers at a price fixed by the Centre. “Farmers are almost dying because the middlemen are purchasing paddy from them at Rs 700 a quintal despite the Centre fixing the official price at Rs 1,080,” he said. “I want the state government to intervene and purchase paddy directly from the farmers at the Centre’s price…. If it is not done, we shall hit the streets soon,” he added. In neighbouring Nadia, Manas Bhuniya, the minister for irrigation, also lashed out at Trinamul for attacks on Congress workers. “We had aligned with Trinamul to oust the CPM from Bengal. Our united efforts yielded results. But if paribartan means consistent attacks on our own workers, then we are hurt,” he told a rally at Bogula, about 81km from Calcutta. Bhuniya said he would ask the chief minister why “our workers are being attacked in a state where the Congress is part of the alliance at the helm”. Nadia district Congress president Shankar Singh warned Trinamul would not be able to “finish us despite its constant efforts to wipe us out of Bengal”. “I want to warn the Trinamul Congress that if it does not stop its attacks on us, we shall not hesitate to counter them.” The Congress rally in Nadia was organised to voice protest against the killing of a Congress woman worker in a police firing during a clash over a Durga idol immersion on October 7. PCC general secretary Krishna Debnath, also present at the rally, accused Trinamul activists of attacking “our women members” across the state in the aftermath of the Assembly polls. She said the state Congress had already written to the chief minister requesting her to take necessary action against those involved in “attacking our men and women” but nothing had been done. Congress plans agitation against Mamata govt Kabita Chowdhury, TNN | Nov 13, 2011, 03.41AM IST BEHRAMPORE: Just a few days after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee upped the ante against the Congress-led UPA government over the hike in petro prices, Congress - the Trinamool ally in West Bengal - planned a stir against the state government's decision to expedite development work by bureaucrats, ignoring the elected local bodies. The agitation programme will start in Murshidabad. The party will also step up pressure on the state government to procure paddy or jute when the Centre has announced support prices. The "friendly opposition" is likely to gain momentum in view of the panchayat elections by the end of 2012. Congress strongman Adhir Chowdhury on Saturday made this announcement in presence of Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjeeand Pradesh Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya. "We will not keep mum. What is preventing the government from buying paddy or jute while the Centre has announced support prices? I came to know of the state's decision to buy only 55,000 tonnes of paddy in Murshidabad, while farmers of Kandi alone produce 2.80 lakh tonnes. I would urge the Union finance minister to arrange for paddy purchase through the Food Corporation of India if the state fails to do so." PCC president Pradip Bhattacharya criticised the state's decision to execute the development works by nominated bureaucrats that might render the elected local bodies jobless. "We protested when the Left Front government tried to dissolve the elected Congress-run civic board in Behrampore. We will do the same again if the government proceeds with its plan. Elected panchayats and municipalities are statutory bodies. No government can curb their powers. All these issues will come up at the panchayat raj convention in Kolkata on November 20," Bhattacharya said. He clarified that the state Congress was not going a whole hog against the Mamata Banerjee government. "Our party is with the CM's development plan and her attempts to check the Maoist problem," the Pradesh Congress president said. State irrigation minister Manas Bhunia told party workers that he would personally look into the government's alleged reluctance to recognise that the Left Front has lost its majority in the Murshidabad zilla parishad. "I will take up the matter with the panchayat and rural development secretary and urge him to look into the issue. The administration should change the sthayee samitis as the Left Front has become minority." State ministers Manoj Chakraborty, Abu Hena attended the convention at Rabindrasadan.