The Hindu : National : Mixed response to Trinamool bandh

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Tuesday, Oct 10, 2006
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Mixed response to Trinamool bandh

Special Correspondent

Kolkata: The 12-hour Statewide bandh by the Trinamool Congress in protest against alleged forcible occupation of farmland for setting up an industry at Singur in Hooghly district evoked a mixed response across West Bengal on Monday.

There were stray incidents of violence in the city and some districts.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee reiterated his Government's decision to set up the industrial plant even as Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee claimed that the people had provided "spontaneous support" to the bandh.

Government firm

"You have seen how the people have responded to the bandh call, so have I. Considering all this, it is the State Government's resolve to ensure that the Tata Motors plant is set up [at Singur] and that it is done so as soon as possible," Mr. Bhattacharjee said, asked by newspersons to react to the day's events.

The industrial sector was "more or less" unaffected even though the bandh was directed against industrial development, Left Front Committee Chairman Biman Bose said.

Ms. Banerjee thanked the Congress and Opposition parties for extending support to the bandh. It was a "silent but peaceful protest" by the people who, by responding to the bandh call, had shown their lack of confidence in the Government, she said.

Over 4,000 people were arrested for disrupting traffic and squatting on railway tracks, Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said.

Mr. Bose said the bandh had little effect on life at Singur.

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