Day after PM jibe, Buddha hits back

The PM has delivered a ‘‘political speech’’ at the 150th anniversary of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries. ‘‘It was as if the Prime Minister was kicking off a political campaign for the next Lok Sabha polls from here,’’ he added.

Asked why he chose to react nearly 24 hours after the PM delivered the speech, Bhattacharya said it was a ‘‘deliberate, conscious’’ decision. ‘‘I couldn’t have said what I am saying now when the Prime Minister was in town.’’

Trying to find the right words to attack the PM, the CM turned to the latest human development report of the UNDP where India’s position has come down from 124 to 127. ‘‘Why this downslide, may I ask the Prime Minister? And what were the nations that outpaced India? Bosnia, Occupied Palestine and Botswana!’’ Bhattacharya said.

The Chief Minister also raised the issue of acute unemployment in the state referred to by the Prime Minister. ‘‘Is there no unemployment in the Prime Minister’s constituency of Lucknow? Does Lucknow smell of flowers only? he asked. ‘‘Unemployment is the outcome of a failure of national planning,’’ he added.

He said that it was true the state’s per capita income had fallen sharply for some years but it was above the national average in the year 2002-2003. ‘‘Wasn’t he aware of this fact? Besides, West Bengal has been making rapid progress in agricultural and industrial sectors,’’ the CM added. The BJP Government had projected a national growth rate of 8 per cent but could achieve only 4.3 per cent whereas Bengal’s growth rate is 7.1 per cent — much higher than the national average, he added.

‘‘Yes, we have one dogma in the economic sphere. We are against disinvestment, against blind privatisation and against Bharat becoming a strategic partner to the US plan of making this world a unipolar one,’’ Bhattacharya said.

And no sooner had the Chief Minister gone public about his anger over the PM’s speech than the political circles began drawing comparisons between the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister’s visits to the city in a gap of just about 10 days.

Among the smaller constituents of the Left Front, there were intense speculations about the Buddha-Vajpayee tiff pushing the Chief Minister closer to Advani. The cordial relations between the two are already a much-talked-about subject. ‘‘The PM’s jibes will further cement the bond between the two,’’ said an RSP leader. Equally engrossed was a section of state bureaucrats, who felt that in future dealings between the state and the Centre, Bhattacharya will obviously prefer to fall back more on Advani than Vajpayee.