[What strikes right in the face is the brazenness of
it all. After four lives are lost on the previous day,
the scene repeats again the next day.]
Bengal CPM cadres bomb ally Minister's house
Express news serviceFri, May 16 02:37 AM
On Sunday, armed CPM cadres freely walked around in
Nandigram and today, in one of the of the worst turf
battles between two Left Front constituents CPM and
the RSP, they allegedly bombed and set ablaze the
house of Subash Naskar, West Bengal Irrigation
Minister from the RSP.
Gouri Naskar, a relative of the minister, sustained 90
per cent burns and was shifted to SSKM hospital in
Kolkata where doctors said she was critical. Her
husband, Uday Naskar, who is the Minister's nephew,
also sustained burn injuries.
The incident triggered off another bout of bitter
squabbling between the Left partners prompting CPM
patriarch Jyoti Basu to comment: "The time has come to
rebuild the Left Front anew. Fissures seem to have run
deep." Only yesterday, three RSP supporters - the
party has only 23 MLAs in a House of 294 - were killed
allegedly by armed CPM cadres. A CPM activist was also
killed.
Basanti, in South 24-Parganas, where the Minister's
house was attacked, has been a traditional stronghold
of the RSP with the CPM playing second fiddle. In
fact, the political power equation here is peculiar:
the RSP occupies the main political space, the CPM
plays the virtual Opposition with neither the
Trinamool nor the Congress having any base. As in
previous panchayat polls, this year too, the two
parties failed to come to any understanding and both
fielded candidates against each other.
Basanti, in a sense therefore, symbolizes the Left's
disunity in these polls. According to one estimate, of
the 41,000 Gram Panchayat seats across the state, the
CPM unilaterally fielded candidates in as many as
36,903 seats. It left barely 4,500 to be shared
between eight other LF constituents which the LF
partners refused to agree on. As a result, the Forward
Bloc and RSP both fielded candidates in about 5000
seats where the CPM put up candidates. Basanti
happened to be one such area.
In fact, the build-up to the poll was fraught with
tension as RSP's Kshiti Goswami and state PWD Minister
urged party supporters to adopt the "Nandigram model
of opposition" to the CPM. "Just as in Nandigram, all
anti-CPM forces should unite to fight the CPM," was
his constant refrain in election rallies.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, accused of
letting the administration turn the other way while
such violence rocked the area, today initiated a fresh
move to rein in the warring partners. He formed a
committee, comprising Rezzak Mollah, the CPM Minister
for Land Reforms; Kanti Ganguly, also from CPM and
Minister for Sunderban Affairs and Subash Naskar, the
target of today's attack, and asked them to defuse the
crisis.
Ironically, Naskar and Ganguly were busy at a
peace-meeting at Sonakhali this afternoon when
Naskar's supporters came rushing to inform him that
his house had been attacked by an armed group of CPM
cadres and set ablaze. Naskar rushed to his house to
find it in flames.
Locals alleged that several men on motorcycles arrived
at Charvidya village, about 85 km from Kolkata, and
hurled bombs at Naskar's house. The house soon caught
fire. CPM zonal committee leader Sudarshan Samal,
however, denied these charges and claimed that bombs
stored in the house had gone off.
The SP rushed to the spot with a team of the Rapid
Action Force and later said that no bomb remnants
could be traced at the house. The case will be
investigated by the CID and the state forensic
department, he said. Home Secretary Ashok Mohan
Chakraborty said the Chief Minister "personally
monitored the situation" and several decisions had
been taken to bring down the temperature in the
disturbed area.
These include: withdrawal of the bandh call given by
RSP and the CPM; avoiding processions or political
meetings in the area for the next 10 days and
re-polling in certain booths without the involvement
of any party volunteers.
II.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080516/jsp/bengal/story_9278627.jsp
Basu unity fear echoes in blast
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Subhas Naskar
Calcutta, May 15: Jyoti Basu today virtually conceded
that the Left Front's unity was in tatters and asked
all to "learn a lesson" but the subsequent violence at
Basanti reopened the still weeping wounds.
The RSP, whose leader and irrigation minister Subhas
Naskar's house was attacked in Basanti, drew a
parallel between this government and the Siddhartha
Shankar Ray regime and threatened to pull out, but
admitted this would be a difficult decision.
PWD minister and RSP leader Kshiti Goswami today said
he wanted to discuss the possibility of a pullout
within the party. "In view of the Basanti incidents, I
can spell out my personal opinion about stepping down
from the ministry. But I want my party to discuss it
first," he said in Malda.
After four deaths in Basanti yesterday, Basu said:
"Our party as well as others have to learn a lesson
and avoid the rerun of violence in the third phase of
polls."
He said "elections need to be peaceful, otherwise
there is no meaning in holding them. I was relieved
after the first phase went off peacefully. But the
situation turned out to be different in the second
phase".
"In the wake of criticism of our policies, we realised
that the disunity over seat-sharing would be worse
this time. Talks (on seat-sharing) failed with the RSP
and Bloc in many places. Biman (Bose) tried his best.
But it could not be achieved," Basu said.
Hours after Basu's sounded caution, CPM supporters
allegedly threw a bomb at Naskar's ancestral house in
Basanti, critically injuring his nephew's wife, Gouri
Naskar.
The RSP took out a rally in Calcutta to protest the
"terror campaign" of the CPM. Party leaders called the
incident "a shame for Left politics" and threatened to
"seriously" consider the option of pulling out at the
party's state secretariat meeting on Monday.
"Many in our rank and file want to pull out. We have
to rethink our position as it becomes meaningless to
be in the government and the front when the original
purpose of the front has ceased to hold any meaning.
So, we are keeping all options open," said RSP veteran
Manoj Bhattacharjee.
"We are witnessing a rerun of the terror campaign of
the Congress regime of Siddhartha Shankar Ray in the
early seventies,'' he said. "But it will be a
difficult decision.''
Fifteen booths in Basanti will see repolling on May
19. They are among the over 60 booths that the state
election commission has marked out so far. "The exact
number of booths will be known by tomorrow," said
election commissioner Asok Gupta.
CPM attack
Alleged CPM supporters ransacked the home of a former
party member who is now with the Forward Bloc,
sparking tension in Dinhata, Cooch Behar.
Subir Adhikary, whose house was attacked, lodged an
FIR naming CPM supporters who are residents of the
area.
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