ELECTION

West Bengal Chief minister in Cooch Behar

COOCH BEHAR, April 19: State chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee termed the BJP a communal party during his election speeches at Tufanganj and Dinhata in Cooch Behar district today It is a dangerous party. They demolished the Babari Masjid and the Congress was a silent spectator. Though the Congress is not a pro-people party the Leftists had to join hands with it out of political compulsion to resist the BJP, he clarified. The CM came here to campaign in favour of the Left Front's Forward Bloc candidate Mr Nripendra Nath Roy.

The CM called upon the proponents of Gorkhaland to shun off violence. "If you need power, take it, if you need money, take it but please do not disturb peace", he said.

The Trinamul Congress is also a dangerous party according to the chief minister. The Congress is bringing this party to north Bengal. It would surely pose a threat to the people. The Congress is a sinking ship and so it is trying to maintain its existence with the help of the Trinamul Congress, he opined.

The senior CPI-M leader admitted that there were differences between the CPI-M and the Forward Bloc during the last panchayat elections in Cooch Behar district. It was unfortunate but now both the parties are moving forward jointly, leaving behind the differences. There is no power to resist the joint force of these two parties in this district, he claimed.

The Congress was in power at the Centre and in this state for many years. They authored 11 5-year plans but that failed to remove the poverty of the people. "But now, in our limited power we are providing rice at Rs 2 a kilo to the people", he claimed. He called upon the poor people to get included in the BPL lists to get benefits of government schemes.

The chief minister alleged that the Congress hatched a plan to destroy the country by the nuclear deal. "In the greater interest of the country we lifted our support from the Congress led government", he said. As the BJP and the Congress both are dangerous parties a third front is needed. Once it comes to power it must take up many good schemes for the benefit of the common people. In the Congress regime one-lakh peasants committed suicide but in this state there is no such example, he claimed.

The ruling CPI-M lost the two Panchayat Samitis and several Gram Panchayat seats in Tufanganj sub-division in the last panchayat elections though till recently Tufanganj was known as a red bastion of the CPI-M. The Forward Bloc had to hand over two Assembly seats in Dinhata sub-division – Dinhata and Sitai – to the Trinamul Congress and the Congress in the last Assembly elections. There was no unity between the two LF partners in the rural polls. The chief minister's today's visit to these two sub-divisions is a damage control effort to regain the Left Front's majority, believes many locals.