MINORITIES-WHO STANDS WHERE

NANDIGRAM SLAMS 'SAVIOURS'

3 May 2009, 0522 hrs IST,

Caesar Mandal & Prithvijit Mitra, TNN

NANDIGRAM: Till a few months ago, they were the saviours and heroes to the people of this region, who fought against CPM and police. But today, having moved into the power corridors after rural polls, they are the most hated people in Nandigram, alienated from the masses at the same place where 14 people fell to bullets on March 14, 2007.

Reason? These Trinamool Congress leaders are today busy usurping power, paying little attention to development activities. Swadesh Das and Swadesh Adhikari were in the forefront of the movement against land acquisition for 11 months. They were part of the Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) action squad, warding off waves of attacks by CPM cadres. Today, they are afraid of entering the area following resistance from their own followers.

During the Nandigram movement, they had become household names in Sonachura, Adhikaripara, Gokulnagar and other villages along Talpati canal bordering CPM-dominated Khejuri. Camping there for months and fighting bullets with bullets, they became heroes. But now, a year and a half after the November 2007 CPM assault and less than a year after the panchayat polls, the likes of Das and Adhikari have become aliens in the land they once lorded over.

Since Trinamool’s victory in the rural polls, the leaders have been difficult to access. They confined themselves to the power corridors and forgot the dusty lanes. There are even charges of corruption against some of them. There is such resentment against the leaders for letting the people down that the two Swadeshs now avoid the villages for fear of reprisals. “Let’s not talk about Swadesh here. After Trinamool’s panchayat election victory, their presence is rare in these parts. A year has pas-sed, but there’s been no development work. Tube wells are yet to be repaired.

We have to walk over a kilometre to get water,” said private tutor Khokon Adhikari. Das is now in charge of the public works department of Nandigram-I panchayat samiti and Adhikari is known as a close comrade of leaders like Sheikh Sufian and Abu Taher. Tapasi Das, who had been hit by a tear gas shell during the police firing on March 14, 2007, is yet to get any compensation. “Days after the injury, I received Rs 30,000 from Kerala Congress. That was all. The government hasn’t provided any compensation. Nor have the Trinamool leaders organized any financial aid,” said Tapasi, who still limps.

Kanan, Khokon’s mother, uses the analogy of government relief. “When 10 barracks of flattened rice are despatched, only three reached the affected people. The case is similar here. Money disappears as it trickles down,” she said. Former BUPC leader Abdul Samad (now with Sidiqullah’s People’s Democratic Conference) says his comrades-in-arms, who had become Trinamool leaders, were behaving just like CPM earlier did.

Left saved India from getting 'ruined': Sharad Yadav

3 May 2009, 0238 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: Adding to the uncertainty over post-poll alliances, NDA ally JD(U) on Saturday warmed up to Left parties praising their role in not allowing the UPA government to open up certain key sectors of the economy and said the country would have been "ruined" but for the communist parties.

"If the Left parties were not there, the country would have been ruined," JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said at a press conference here on Saturday. Taking strong exception to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attacking the Left Front government in West Bengal for "committing many mistakes", Yadav said the communists played an important role in preventing the UPA governmnent from opening up the insurance and banking sectors.

"The only thing Singh has done during his five years in office is the Indo-US nuclear deal," Yadav said as he accused the UPA government of being responsible for sky-rocketing prices, growing unemployment and a spate of suicide by farmers. Asked why he was suddenly leaning towards the Left, Yadav said, "What I wanted to convey is that the Prime Minister's attack on Left parties is not proper." Seeking to convey that NDA would not require any post-poll support from the Left, the NDA convenor claimed the BJP-led alliance would come to power with a thumping majority.

The bonhomie between JD(U) and the Left was reflected when senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury drove to Yadav's residence here on March 15 for an hour-long meeting. Yadav and Yechury had jointly participated in the student and youth movements after the Emergency in 1970s. Yechury had even campaigned for Yadav when he contested the Jabalpur Lok Sabha seat soon after the Emergency.

On Saturday, Yadav also capped any speculation about Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as the NDA's possible PM candidate. "There is no vacancy (in the prime ministerial post). NDA has decided that L K Advani is its candidate," he said. Yadav's remarks come against the backdrop of statements by a number of BJP leaders that Modi could be the party's prime ministerial candidate in the next general elections.

India's unity be at stake if BJP comes to power: Buddhadeb

Krishnagar (PTI): The unity of India would be at stake if BJP returns to power at the Centre as they want only Hindus to stay in the country, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said here today."India is the home to second largest number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. What would be the fate of these people if BJP comes to power at the Centre," Bhattacharjee said at a poll rally.

He backed the position of Third Front in this context during the ongoing general elections."Leaders like Sarad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Naveen Patnaik want to join Third Front. The people have lost faith on Congress as they have deprived the poor during the UPA rule," Bhattacharjee, a CPI-M politburo member, said.

On the question of the Nuclear Deal with the US, Chief Minister said, "Congress has misled people by giving false statements"."The deal amounts to selling the country to the US. No country has been benefited by allying with the US," he said.At this juncture, he said people should form a government at the Centre that would stress on independent foreign policy and help the poor people. PTI

Repoll in Darjeeling, Jhargram

KOLKATA: Repolling has been ordered in six booths in West Bengal — two booths each in Darjeeling and Bishnupur and one each in Salboni and Jhargram. The repoll on Sunday is being conducted following complaints of irregularities lodged by various political parties, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Debashis Sen said.

Security during this round of polls process would be provided by the district administration. The first phase of polling in the State on April 30 was marred by a landmine explosion at Kushboni near Jhargram which killed two polling personnel and the driver of their jeep.

Chief Secretary A.M. Chakraborty said that efforts were on to extend assistance to the family of the jeep-driver also. The family of the slain poll personnel would get a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each.

Rahul's call for change an insult to people of WB: Yechuri

Kolkata, May 03: The CPI(M), a key constituent of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal, on Sunday termed as "insult" the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's call for a "change" in the state, which is ruled by the communists for nearly 31 years. "The Congress is saying that the Left Front had done nothing for the state in 31 years. Then why are the people voting it. Are they fools that they cannot choose any other party? This is an insult to the people," CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said at a seminar here.

Recalling that about 25 years ago, Rajiv Gandhi had describeds Kolkata as a 'dying city', Yechuri said, "the people did not take kindly to it and had continued voting for the Left. If this same insulting statement continues, the Left will remain in power for another 25 years." Yechuri, also a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal accused the Congress of lacking an alternative development plan for the state.

"For last three days that I'm campaigning in the state, I have not heard of any alternative development plan from them. There is only negative criticism," he said. The AICC member Rahul Gandhi during a recent rally, had appealed people to "vote for change" in the state as the communist government was not receptive to the needs of the poor.

Yechuri said that rapid industrialisation was the only way to consolidate the benefits of successful implementation of the land reform movement and decentralisation through panchayati raj in West Bengal.

"In Singur, 12,000 families took compensation for about 1,000 acre of acquired land which means 12 persons were surviving on an acre of land. What is the reality? Obviously many of such families were engaged in low-end livelihoods. To improve the quality of life of such persons, there is no alternative to rapid industrialisation," he added.

(ZEENEWS.COM)

Biman Basu counters Congress tirade against LF Govt.

Kolkata (PTI): The CPI(M) today took a swipe at the Congress top brass for accusing the Left Front government in West Bengal of "neglecting the poor", saying it was part of a 'motivated' campaign to mislead people for electoral gains.

Instead of finding fault with the communists, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi should look at the track record of their government at the Centre in working for the poor, Left Front chairman Biman Basu said here.

"In a country like ours, 27 crore women are anaemic and another 23 crore people are victims of malnutrition, 40 per cent of children upto the age of three have no right weight and 77 per cent of the population cannot spend over Rs 20 a day. How can Sonia Gandhi push India forward without removing these maladies?" Mr. Basu charged.

"Perhaps she is not interested in removing poverty and malnutrition among the poor, though she is speaking loudly of aam admi," Mr. Basu, who is the state secretary of the CPI (M) told PTI in an interview.

On Rahul Gandhi's comments that the communists have forgotten the poor, he said he only mouthed what others had taught him, but there were 12.5 lakh villages in the country and it was not possible for somebody to comment on the condition obtaining there without actualy visiting them.

The CPI(M) leader repeated his earlier assertion that the condition of Purulia district in Bengal was better than Kalahandi in Orissa or even Amethi.

Statue of Jesus Christ attacked in Kalimpong

Indian Catholic

NEW DELHI: A group of BJP led miscreants attacked the statue of Jesus Christ installed in the historical place of Pedong, and damaged it severely on April 25 in Kalimpong, West Bengal. According to a Evangelical Fellowship of India correspondent, Rev. Susanta Patra reported that some groups damaged the statue of crucifixion installed recently on a ‘Cross Hill’ belonging to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

It was reported that the miscreants try to take the 5 foot tall statue of Christ off the cross, breaking the statue badly. Speaking to EFI, parish priest, Father Peter Lingdamo said. “The police were very concerned and they came to inspect the incident soon after they were informed. We are positive that police protection will be provided should the need arises” The church did not file a police complaint. Pedong is predominantly a Christian area and such incident as reported was rare. Pray that calm will return to the area and for fruitful ministries in the area.

Advani silent on Mamata during poll campaign in West Bengal

Kolkata (PTI): Perhaps keeping an eye on the post-poll equation, BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Wednesday refrained from using harsh words against former ally Trinamool Congress' alliance with Congress and said it is upto TC to decide whether it wanted to rejoin NDA or stay with its new partner.

Mr. Advani, who addressed three election meetings in West Bengal during the day, remained silent on Trinamool Congress although state BJP leaders criticised TC chief Mamata Banerjee for joining hands with the Congress. Earlier, speaking to reporters at the N S C Bose International airport here, Mr. Advani said TC has to decide whether it wanted to rejoin the NDA or stay with the Congress.

"Mamata has to decide whether she wants to join the NDA or stay with the Congress. It was she who decided to leave the NDA and have a tie-up with the Congress for the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal," he said. "But one thing is sure, that the BJP is as anti-CPI(M) as the Trinamool Congress," he said.

Stating that the NDA was a pre-poll alliance, he dubbed the UPA as "opportunist". Mr. Advani said despite Biju Janata Dal walking out of NDA, Om Prakash Chautala's INLD, Ajit Singh's Lok Dal and Asom Gana Parishad have joined the alliance.

THE LEFT POSSESSES THE HIGHEST ACCOUNTABILITY ON THE ISSUE OF SECULARISM

MURSHIDABAD,2nd MAY: The last Lok Sabha elections of 2004 saw 54 of the 61 Left MPs win their seats by defeating Congress candidates. Yet, to keep away from office the communal BJP, the Left chose to provide support to the Congress-led UPA government from outside based on a Common Minimum Programme. Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member of the CPI (M) said this on 2 May at Beldanga in Murshidabad.

CRITICAL
Critical of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had said earlier that the left had put up a Third Front to facilitate the chances of the BJP, Sitaram Yechury said that it had always been the left that had consistently fought the BJP-RSS combine throughout the country. That the Left supported the UPA government is a strong proof of the left’s secular credentials.

Sitaram Yechury said that the Left has pressurised the UPA government into declaring as a policy the 100 days’ work project. The Left had also compelled the UPA government to pass a legislation securing the rights of the adivasis. The Congress had not taken these steps for the 50 years they had been in the union government. This is an example of the kind of political perspective the Congress possesses.

LEFT PRESSURE
In fact, the Congress has never initiated any steps that would benefit the masses, the poorest of the poor. The amount of pro-people measures that the Congress would undertake during the time the UPA was in office was solely due to pressure from the Left. The Congress subsequently entered into a nuclear treaty with the US despite the Left having warned against such steps. By toying with the sovereignty of the nation the Congress had affronted the masse who would surely reject Congress through the electoral process throughout the country.

A CHARADE OF AN ELECTION IN THE HILL SUBDIVISIONS OF DARJEELING

DARJEELING,2nd May: As we have reported elsewhere, the elections in the hill areas of Darjeeling were rendered into a political sham on poll day, 30 April 2009. It had rained, indeed poured heavily throughout the morning and into the early afternoon.

Yet, it was found by late morning that a massive percentage of polling had been done in an astonishingly short period of time. This could only be done if buttons on the EVMs are pushed in a continuum without a break. The whole process reeks of a political sham.

The issue also raises several important questions:

1.What were the elections officials doing when this farce of a poll was taking place? Why they would not speak out, far less than file a written complaint about what was taking place, which was nothing but a breach of the Model Code for elections.

2.What happened to the five companies of paramilitary troopers who were assigned for duty in the hills? What prevented them from being present around the hill polling booths?

3.A strong demand was made to the ECI to ban and disband the Gorkha Land Personnel (GLP) – and it was found it was the GLP itself that was engaged in conducting the polls in the hiulls. In fact, they were in charge and in a harshly threatening mood all the time.

4.Throughout the polls despite complaints, the process of wiping away of the name and style of West Bengal Government and substituting it for ‘Gorkhaland Government’ was allowed to continue -- and the protests were in vain. The ECI could have also taken suo motu action from reports and photographs published in various news papers and magazines.

Finally and surprisingly, despite complaints, the ECI would not order re-poll in a single booth in the hill areas, opting instead for re-poll in two booths in the plains.

PROSPECT FOR A THIRD FRONT GOVT BRIGHTENS EVERY DAY

BANGAON(NORTH 24 PARGANAS), 2nd May: Manik Sarkar, Tripura chief minister and a Polit Bureau member of the CPI (M) has been touring along various districts of Bengal during the phased elections taking place. Addressing two big rallies at Bongaon and Basirhat in support of the Left Front –nominated candidates, Manik sarkar said that with three phases of the elections over, the prospect for a Third Front government in Delhi was becoming brighter every day. This has made the Congress and the BJP confused, afraid, and directionless.

PRICE RISE
Manik Sarkar said that the UPA government would not react in any way to the galloping price-rise, and that it would not bother to listen to the sane advice of the left that the public distribution system in the country should be strengthened. Had the Congress done so, the price rise would not have followed in the size and sweep that it did. By brining in 14 to 18 articles of common consumption within the rationing system and ensuring their constancy of supply would have cost the central government but Rs 20 thousand crore – but the anti-people Congress government was not willing to listen, lacking the proper political will.

LEFT NOT HEEDED
On the other hand, the rich had stashed away more than Rs 74 lakh in Swiss banks to evade taxes. Simply by recovering that fund, the rationing system could have been refurbished and strengthened several times over. The people would not, then, have remained without the benefits of subsidies in essential commodities. The hoarders and the black marketers would have been let disappointed.

The price rise itself could well have been effectively stemmed. Both the Congress and the BJP stand by the side of the hoarders and the racketeers from a class point of view. The crocodile tears are only kept for the time when elections are announced. When the electoral process is finished, the old class values return to torment the poor. Manik sarkar also criticised the communal brand of politics of the BJP.

SITARAM YECHURY CALLS FOR CHANGE AT THE CENTRE IN FAVOUR OF THE THIRD FRONT

RANIGANJ (BURDWAN): ‘We need new governance for a new India,’ said CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury at Ranigunj right amidst the coal belt of Bengal. He was addressing a mass rally in the afternoon of 1st May.

REJECT ‘GADDI HASIL’ POLITICS
The entire country is now poised to throw out the ‘gaddi hasil’ brand of politics in favour of popular governance. The new government shall have people’s welfare as the locus of its policies. The certainty of the Third Front assuming control in Delhi, post election, was becoming clearer every day.

Held at the large Sihrasole grounds, the rally saw participation in their thousands of both coal mine workers and workers in the unorganised sectors, in particular. There was also a large number of adivasis who came in their traditional dressage and raised a storm of kettle drum beats.

TWO INDIAS
Sitaram Yechury said that at present a ‘Chamakta hua Bharat’ was confronted by a ‘tadapta hua Bharat.’ In the former, ‘shining,’ India, a few people and families concentrated in their hands of massive amount of wealth. More billionaires exist in that India than even in the rich and developed nation of Japan.

In the suffering India, 75% of Indians cannot have Rs 20 per day as income. Every day, 1000 children die. 755 of the mothers are the victims of anaemia. One crore of Indians have been thrown out of employment as a consequence of the big depression worldwide. The jobs of five crore more are under serious threat. In Surat in Gujarat 71 workers have taken their own lives. The textile workers sell their kidneys to survive. ‘We want a change of this India,’ said the speaker.

NEW FORMATIONS
Sitaram Yechury said that the secular formations were coming together in a new way. On the eastern coast of the country, the alliance partners have left the BJP. Laloo Prasad Yadav and Ram Bilas Paswan have created a separate morcha. The Third force will become stronger after the elections are over. Sitaram Yechury recalled to the mind of the politically conscious Bengali the words of Gopal Krishna Gokhale: what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.

LF TO SHOW THE WAY
The Left Front government is established in Bengal after winning seven consecutive elections. Bengal shows the way to the future for the rest of the country. Sitaram Yechury called for a massive electoral triumph of the LF-nominated CPI (M) candidate from the constituency, and a sitting MP, Bangsa Gopal Chaudhuri. Other who addressed the rally besides Bangsa Gopal was CPI leader and MP, R C Singh.

PM DR MANMOHAN SINGH VS CONGRESS LEADER DR MANMOHAN SINGH

KOLKATA,2nd May: Dr Manmohan Singh addressed a Congress rally in Howrah on 1st May and said that ‘recently the Congress has published a report card on the working of the Bengal government with which I tend to agree, and it is shown there that Bengal has dropped back in various developmental activities.’

The same Dr Manmohan Singh had said on 12 January, 2005 while in Kolkata that ‘when I see newspapers call Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee the best chief minister in the country, I am not surprised. I agree with this statement. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his government are working away with courage, with the heart in the right place, and with intelligence. This is what is needed for the development of the nation. Bengal is about to re-claim the position of leadership in the country.’

Need one add anything more?

MINE BLAST BY ‘MAOISTS’ AT JAMBANI CLAIMS LIVES OF THREE POLL WORKERS

MIDNAPORE(INN): When we reached the spot at a remote corner of Jambani in Midnapore west, where an improvised explosive device or IED detonation buried in a desolate part of the road leading to Jhargram town, had taken place post-poll in the evening of 30 April, and we were met with the combined reek of blasting powder, of human remains -- the bodies were scattered over a half-a-kilometre radius -- and with the smell of death.

LAST WORDS
Prasada Bandyopadhyay, polling work completed, rang up his ailing and elderly father telling him that everything was all right and that he was well on his way home, and then he asked of his three-year old daughter to ‘tell mummy to have some food ready.’ He had hardly beeped off his cell phone when the word turned topsy-turvy for the Bandyopadhyay family.

The IED exploded with ferocious impact on the jeep Prasada and two of his colleagues Sougata including the chauffeur Sanjay Das were travelling in. We found little evidence of the vehicle other than a few steel parts from the engine. The body parts were flung as high as the flowering Palash trees crowding both sides of the metalled road, trees that reached out 40 feet into the sky. A ‘Maoist’ leaflet later clamed with glee that they had exploded the devices and that ‘many more deaths would follow.’

HUMAN TRAGEDY
What is tragic is the fact that Prasada who was computer software engineers, and his men innocently believed in -- and that cost them their lives-- what the ‘Maoist’ posters had earlier proclaimed in the jangal mahal that: ‘we shall only kill police personnel and not the civilian populace.’ Does one believe the cruel criminal, the merciless and opportunistic hunter of men and women, the social evil incarnate, and the people on the dangerous lunatic fringe?

As we had reported earlier, the presence of the fourth component during what was purported to be a tripartite meeting that the CEO Bengal took with the Maoist backed ‘people’ committee,’ upset all equations, leaking in profusion the poll arrangements to the criminals and the killers. A slip meant the death of three men, and a dirge-like impact on their family units, especially as all three men who mat such a cruel end on the line of duty were the only earners in their household units.

NO REACTION FROM OPPOSITION
Expectedly, none of the opposition political groupings, none of the foreign-funded ‘democracy-mad’ NGOs, none of the members of the ‘civil society’ would deign to utter a single word in empathy for the departed and for those the murdered left behind.

Earlier, last October, a similar IED blast had left a doctor Dhaniram Mandi, a nurse, Bharati Mandi, and the chauffeur Pranay Mishir, dead much in the same spot. It is believed by the local Party unit that the same gang had brought about the latest detonation and that they operate out of a remote forest area of Jharkhand across the porous border.

Socio-Economic Development of West Bengal to continue:Chief Minister

KOLKATA: A meeting on “Socio-Economic Development of West Bengal” organized by Calcutta Citizens’ Initiative (CCI) was held on 28th April,Tuesday at G.D. Birla Sabhagar. The main speaker was Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal. People from various walks of life, joined the meeting including Shri R M Kapoor (Town Planner), Shri Subodh Sarkar (Poet), Shri Barry O’Brien (Journalist), Shri Sunil Das (Painter), Prof Suren Munshi (Academia); Dr S K Sharma (Radiologist) and Prof Dipankar Dasgupta (Economist). They appreciated the work of the State Government and expressed their solidarity for the developmental steps being taken.

The CM held out hope that mega projects announced earlier such as the numerous steel plants and petrochem hub were bound to come up, despite pressures induced by the global economic meltdown. “I just can’t accept the Opposition position. They are opposing everything, even the extension of national highways and acquisition of land for a thermal power plant at Katwa. But, I accept the challenge since I believe in people power and not muscle power,” Bhattacharjee told a gathering at the G D Birla Sabhagar, which also included Nicco’s Rajive Kaul and Titagarh Wagon’s J P Chowdhary from the industrialist fraternity.

“I have spoken to Sajjan Jindal and he has assured me that the JSW plant would definitely come up despite the problems in raising funds from banks at the moment,” the CM added. Bhattacharjee — whose industrialization policies had helped disparate Opposition parties to join hands — said his government had taken lessons from the mistakes committed earlier in acquiring land. “Our intention was not bad. I have no personal preference for cars. All I wanted to see was the smiling faces of thousands of workers at Singur. We wanted to make Nandigram another Haldia. But the Opposition played a destructive role,” he asserted.

However, the state was in the process of setting up a land bank — largely comprising fallow land — at a cost of Rs 500 crore to ensure that plots could be handed over to companies quicker. A rehabilitation package was also being drawn up for affected landlosers. “We are negotiating with a Czech company for a mass rapid transit system,” he added.

Shri Shishir Bajoria, President of CCI urged the citizens to take a pro active role in the overall growth. In the beginning Shri Narayan Jain in his welcome address pointed out the low polling taking place in Kolkata and urged all eligible voters to cast their vote in the ensuing Parliamentary elections without any fear. Mr Jain further emphasised that "We need to appreciate that behind efforts for setting up industry, the major thurst has been creation of job opportunity for youth, which is the need today. These realities need to be appreciated by all including other political parties and cross section of society. Positive attitude is desirable for fast growth of the State."

On the occasion Justice B.L. Jain former Judge of Calcutta High Court, Shri Buddhadeb Guha, Smt. Diplai Bhattacharya, Shri Samir Dutt, Shri Mahesh Shah, Shri Wasim Kapoor were also present.

Earlier, other speakers invited at the programme said the electorate should teach the Opposition a lesson for its negative brand of politics. “We have to ensure that agitational politics is washed away from the shores of West Bengal,” town planner R M Kapoor said. “The intellectuals who are seeking change through hoardings should have the courage to specify what change they want,” painter Sunil Das said.

Three killed in West Bengal blast

KOLKATA,30th April: Three persons were killed when a vehicle in which polling personnel were returning from duty blew up in a landmine explosion in the Jamboni area of West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district on Thursday. The incident occurred shortly after elections in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, in the first of the three phases in the State, passed off without any major incident of violence.

The site of the blast is in the southwest of the State — a region that has been the scene of Maoist activity in recent times and where the call by extremists for a poll boycott evoked partial response.The victims were two sector officers and the driver of the vehicle, District Magistrate, N.S. Nigam, told mediapersons.

Another tragedy was averted when explosives was recovered from under a culvert over which polling personnel and security forces were to pass in the Barabazar area of Purulia district. The voter turnout in the day’s polls spanning nine districts including north Bengal was more than 65 per cent. There was no voting in 93 booths.

“Polling was largely free and fair. There was no report of any major untoward incident,” Debashis Sen, Chief Electoral Officer, said. Voting was moderately heavy, particularly in the hill area of the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency.

INSINUATIONS AGAINST BENGAL LF: People Shall Give A Befitting Reply

Weekly Editorial

India News Network

New Delhi, April 30, 2009: A quarter century ago, Rajiv Gandhi, as India's prime minister, had infamously commented, “Calcutta is a dying city”. This affront against all that Bengal had contributed to the building of modern India and all that it stands for today has been rebuffed by the people of Bengal at every opportunity during this quarter century. Today, his son, and Congress general secretary, echoing his father says: “This Communist government has forgotten the poor.

And, instead of taking the state ahead, in the past thirty years, it has taken it at least thirty years backward”. He proceeded further to compare the levels of poverty in Bengal with those in Kalahandi in Orissa, parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Such absurd assertions can only come from those who pay a breezy whistle stop daylong tour by helicopters without planting their feet firmly on the ground.

The ground realities of Purulia, the area in Bengal referred to, compare more favourably, not only to the places referred to in Orissa, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh but also with Rae Bareily and Amethi, represented by the Congress president and the general secretary.The Congress president, in turn, made disparaging remarks about the misuse of central funds in Bengal, levelling charges of corruption and diversion of such funds. Strange, that such charges come from the leader of the party that indulged in the worst form of political immorality with the unprecedented display of currency notes in the parliament used for buying votes to win the trust motion of the Manmohan Singh government after the Left withdrew support with the UPA's surrender to US imperialism on the nuclear deal! A common refrain has been that the Left Front government in Bengal had not efficiently utilized the funds allocated under the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.

The Bengal Left Front government had written to the central government that the works permitted by the NREGA were designed primarily for the arid and semi-arid areas in the country and are, therefore, not suited for such places like Bengal which have very high rainfall. The West Bengal government, therefore, had asked for permission to employ people under this scheme for works that are already permitted under various centrally sponsored schemes. This listed special irrigation and land improvement packages that include land levelling, farm bunding, fruit trees and fodder plantation, creating farm ponds, producing low cost mud bricks etc. Such works are more suitable for climatic conditions of areas like Bengal.

The central government, however, refused to permit the West Bengal government from undertaking such works under the NREGA. It is the UPA government, therefore, which is responsible for not permitting the efficient and exhaustive usage of the NREGA funds in Bengal. Thus, despite the unsubstantiated attacks by the Congress leaders that the Left Front government did not give `job cards' to “lakhs of poor farmers”, the fact remains that the West Bengal government has, by now, given 95 lakh job cards to deserving poor people. All over the country, so far only 4 crore job cards have been given. In other words, West Bengal, which accounts for 8 per cent of the country's population, has distributed 25 per cent of all job cards distributed in the country.

Let us take a look at the canards being spread against the Left Front on the issue of economic development in the state. In the period of neo-liberal economic reforms, during the decade between 1993 to 2003 (the last year for which authoritative data is available) the average growth of net state domestic product was 7.10 per cent – the highest amongst the sixteen big states in India. This is well ahead of the media favorites like Maharashtra (4.74 per cent), Gujarat (5.87 per cent), Karnataka (6.27 per cent) Andhra Pradesh (5.27 per cent) and Tamilnadu (5.24 per cent). This is from a study done by the Centre for Policy Alternatives quoting statistics from the Central Statistical Organisation, the Economic Survey and RBI bulletins. Studies by the World Bank and by the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, earlier, corroborate such findings.In terms of per capita income, West Bengal has registered an average growth of 5.51 percent as opposed to the national average of 4.01 per cent.

This has happened despite the fact that the annual population growth was 1.64, much higher than the highflying states like Tamilnadu (1.06). The study notes “without doubt, the seemingly uncontrollable and unabated migration, particularly from Bangladesh but also from Nepal and neighbouring states like Bihar and Orissa, has contributed to this relatively high growth of population. Whatever are the reasons for this we can only surmise that the rise in per capita income could have been higher if there had been no population influx into Bengal.”The more significant aspect of West Bengal’s performance is the fact that this is a growth led by agriculture in complete contrast to the national experience, thus making it the most effective example of `inclusive growth'.

Land reforms are often seen purely from the humanitarian aspect of providing a source of livelihood for those who otherwise have none. This is definitely an important aspect. But a proper rational land distribution also contributes to a growth in productivity (both land and labour) and enhances the purchasing power in the hands of a vast majority of the people who are otherwise excluded from the market. All these three aspects are visible in Bengal today. Nearly 13 lakh acres of agricultural land was acquired by the Left Front government and distributed to the landless poor (This process continues even today). Nearly 25 lakhs of people have benefited as a result. Even if one were to assume the value of one acre of land to be a conservative Rs 10 lakhs, then this land distribution amounts to Rs 1 lakh 30 thousand crores of worth of resource transfer from the rich to the poor. Such a massive redistribution of wealth has contributed to making West Bengal the fastest growing rural economy today.

In addition, nearly 20 lakh sharecroppers have been recorded; meaning that the landlord cannot now evict them. They have also been conferred hereditary rights to cultivation. Combined, these two measures have radically transformed the lives of nearly 50 lakh individuals or nearly two and half to 3 crores of people if we include their families.West Bengal is the third most intensely agricultural state in India with 76.61 per cent of its land under cultivation. However, only 28.1 of this is irrigated, unlike say Punjab which has 89.72 per cent, thanks to central projects like the Bhakra Nangal dam, the like of which are denied to Bengal. Despite this, Bengal today has the third highest average yield in India and its volume of foodgrains production is also third after Punjab and Uttar Pradesh (undivided; because of its sheer size not productivity).

Today it is the country’s largest producer of rice. In the early eighties the per capita net agricultural product in West Bengal was 18 per cent lower than the national average. Today it stands over 10 per cent higher than the national average.Despite such hard facts which explain the reality why the people of Bengal continue to repose faith in the Left Front in over seven general elections over the last three decades, the Congress leaders, in their legally new-established company with the Trinamul Congress, continue to parrot the so-called `misrule' of the Left Front. In any democracy, the people will elect that political party, which, in their opinion, is best, suited to improve their quality of life. By this yardstick, the unprecedented re-election of the Left Front in Bengal, for over three decades, must inform all of us that the people continue to repose faith in the Left Front because of the improvements that they have seen in their quality of life. This fact was often sought to be negated in the past by hurling charges of `scientific rigging'. Succumbing to such unfounded charges, the Election Commission in the 2006 elections to the state Assembly, decided to conduct them in five phases by drawing security forces and electoral personnel from outside Bengal as the local people were allegedly `pro-CPI (M)'.

At that stage, we had told the Election Commission that as long as they do not bring voters from outside Bengal, no one could defeat the Left Front! The 2006 results hailed by all, including the Trinamul chief Mamta Banerjee as being completely free and fair, gave the Left Front a larger than two-third majority in the Assembly. Thus, saying that the Left Front subjected Bengal to a three-decade long misrule is tantamount to insulting the people of Bengal and the electoral choices that they have made on the basis of their experiences. Bengal's electorate, shall, once again, reply to such insinuations in as appropriate a manner as they had done in the past.

Stray Terror in West Bengal First Phase

People Voting in Lalgarh Saradamani School

Kolkata, 30th April- Incidents of violence, Maoist terror and intimidation marred the voting process in some parts of West Bengal, in the first phase. 14 seats went to polls on Thursday,in northern and western part of the state. The general voting trend was, however, peaceful and large number of voters exercised their right in most of the constituencies.

Maoists called for vote boycott and to enforce this created an atmosphere of terror in remote villages of Purulia district. In the morning, landmine blasts created panic in some areas of Bandwan and Balarampur areas resulting in low turn out. Two Border Security Force jawans were injured in the blast triggered by at Biramdih in Purulia district.In Lalgarh and Shalboni, the areas seized by the Maoist-backed forces, election commission and administration arranged buses to carry voters in the four centres as determined.

But the Maoists have not allowed the voters to come and there was very low turnout. In these areas as many as seven CPI(M) leaders and activists were killed during election campaign.In three sub divisions in the hills, the polling was not free and fair in many areas due to intimidation by Gorkha Janamukti morcha in support of BJP candidate.The polling was otherwise more or less peaceful in most of the constituencies.

There was no major incident in Midnapore, Bankura,two seats in Maldaha, Coochbehar, Balurghat.In Ghatal, where CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta is contesting, Trinamool Congress candidate slapped a polling official.“The people of the state braved the terror and voted in a determined fashion,” Biman Basu, Chairman of Left Front said at a press conference in this evening.

Emami to invest Rs 2,200 cr in Bengal paper plant

Kolkata: The Rs 2,000-crore Emami Group is planning to invest Rs 2,200 crore for setting up a high-end writing and printing paper manufacturing plant at Kultikri in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

The 200,000-tonne-a-year unit, to be developed by group company Emami Paper Mills Limited, would be completed within three and a half years from zero date, according to Mr P.S. Patwari, Executive Director of the company. The 1,415 acres required to set up the plant would be acquired within a year, he said.

Emami Paper Mills signed a memorandum of agreement here on Friday with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation for implementing the project. The State Government would provide nearly a half of the required land (vested land of nearly 700 acres), while Emami has to acquire the rest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said after the agreement signing ceremony. All land to be acquired in the area is barren, Mr R.S. Agarwal, Joint Chairman of Emami Group, said.

“The paper mill project, one of the biggest in India, is expected to generate substantial employment,” the Chief Minister said. Nearly 8,000 people will be directly or indirectly employed in the project, West Bengal Industrial Secretary Mr Sabyasachi Sen told presspersons on the sidelines of the programme.

The Irrigation Department has agreed to supply water from the Subarnarekha, he said, while pointing out that the used water will be released into the river after recycling through canals. The plant would consume nearly 75,000 cubic metre of water daily while its coal intake would be two lakh tonnes a year. The wood pulp required as raw material would be supplied by the West Bengal Forest Department.