NEW DELHI: Admitting that the constituents in the Left Front were taken aback by an "organised and brutal police assault'' under its regime, the Communist Party of India said the police firing in Nandigram was carried out with the "knowledge and consent of the leading section within the Front [but] without any consultation with other partners.''

"Indeed, there had been frequent warnings by these partners about the tensions that were building up. There had been repeated pleas for greater transparency, for taking every partner into confidence about the police and measures that were to be taken, about using persuasion rather than coercion in the pursuit of building industries and acquiring land for the purpose ... but unfortunately all such pleadings by other allies and partners of the Left Front went unheeded by the biggest partner, viz. the CPI (M), especially its leadership.

The Chief Minister and some of his colleagues felt that they could carry through everything without the need for any consultation with or help from other partners of the Front. "They [other partners] remained in the dark about whatever was happening or was to happen,'' party general secretary A.B. Bardhan said in the latest edition of party organ New Age.

Mr. Bardhan recalled the sequence of events since the March 14 firing and the candid talk the Front constituents held with the CPI (M) in West Bengal. At the same time, he said, the Front partners knew where to draw the line in attack against the functioning of the West Bengal Government. "One could think of opting out of the Government. But could one think of breaking out of the Front?'' he sought to know and answered that the alternative could have arisen had the CPI (M) refused to accept the proposals made by the other three constituents [CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc] in the Front.

"It should be remembered that just as progressive, democratic and Left-minded sections rallied behind the Left Front at one end, vested interests, rightist and reactionary forces came together at the other end. There is a constant battle between the two. We cannot let down our guard if the unparalleled feat of winning successive elections and holding on to power is to be kept up,'' he said.

He lamented that many "ill-thought and unilateral steps'' were gifted as weapons to elements ranging from the extreme Left to the extreme Right to be used against the Left Front itself and underlined the need for the all constituents to close ranks and take steps to overcome the crisis.

The biggest partner in the Front has to mend its ways in running the Front and the Government, he said, suggesting a fresh look into the issue of land acquisition, how industries come up, rehabilitation policy and the Special Economic Zones.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail