ELECTION

Manas Bhuinya's war of words against CPI-M

 

COOCH BEHAR, May 14: A senior Congress leader Dr Manas Bhuinya complained that more than twenty-lakh families leave this state per year to seek jobs elsewhere. The voters of Cooch Behar district have every right to ask the government why the NREGA scheme was not implemented in this district effectively. It is mandatory to provide jobs for the people for at least 100-days in a year but the directive was not followed here, he alleged.

 

Dr Bhuinya, who came here to campaign in favour of Congress candidates, met the media persons today. He alleged that the state government failed to spend Rs 550-crore of the allotted fund for NREGA. According to the guideline 100-days of work should be done under this scheme but in Cooch Behar district the authorities failed to provide jobs not more than eleven-days in average. The situation is not well in other districts too, he said.

 

Describing Cooch Behar as a backward district enriched with forestry he said the state forest minister too lives in this district but no significant development was done here. Tobacco and jute are the major agricultural products of this district but the government did almost nothing to improve the sector. Instead, illegal cultivation of ganja rose here uninterruptedly, he alleged.

 

Terming the Tista irrigation project a failure Dr Bhuinya said government fund is being ransacked in this project. It is yet uncertain when the project will be completed.

 

The Congress leader came down heavily on the Forward Bloc leadership. He said that after the 5 February police firing in Dinhata the FB leaders staged movements and delivered revolutionary speeches. Are the FB leaders ready to allow their grass-root level supporters to vote against the CPI-M? Dr Bhuinya alleged that the power-monger FB leadership would never come out from the Left Front leaving the chairs of ministers. The lives of ordinary supporters have no value to them. But they should realise that the Left Front is nothing but a CPI-M front.

 

Replying a question on FB's presence in the mahajot (grand alliance) at different places Dr Bhuinya welcomed it. He said as the party of Netaji the FB should leave the LF. He claimed that the Congress is trying to liberate Bengal from the clutch of the CPI-M, let it by any mahajot or otherwise. "We are appealing the people from our own standpoint to fight against the CPI-M and it is upto the people to do it by any means including mahajot", he explained. []