For I-T sector, Buddha gave special passes, his party ripped them off

In fact, the CITU, the CPM’s trade union wing struck back with a vengeance today, hitting where it hurts Bhattacharjee most: the IT sector.

The government had issued special stickers to help movement of I-T sector vehicles but CITU cadres ensured that the Salt Lake electronics complex—where most BPOs and call centers are—wore a deserted look. No vehicles were allowed to ply.

CITU did to the Bhattacharjee government what normally an Opposition party does: batter the states’s reputation. A senior police official admitted that in almost half a dozen places, IT-sector cars with special stickers were stopped, stickers ripped off and employees not allowed to move.

Said Indu Khattar, general manager and head of WIPRO-Technologies: ‘‘Governance and political compulsion can not go hand in hand. Somewhere there has to be a dividing line. Or else, the state’s ambition to become a major IT destination will remain a pipedream.”

WIPRO BPO however, was one of the very few units to have an 80 percent attendance for the first shift that started at 4 am. It was, however, not sure about the second shift. Price WaterHouse Coopers shut shop as did several others who are supposed to work 24X7.

Several I-T heads said that while the rest of the country was functioning almost normally, it was Kolkata again that was badly hit. ‘‘In every centre it was a normal day, except here,” said Siddhartha Mukherjee, vice president and head of Kolkata centre of Cognizant Technology Solutions.

CITU’s state secretary Kali Ghosh, however, had no regrets: ‘‘Why should the IT sector get an exemption when all other sectors are affected? To resort to a bandh is a party decision and there is no reason why everyone should not follow it.’’

‘‘This was almost like an internal coup against the government,” said a senior bureaucrat associated with the IT department. “It will certainly have a negative impact.’’

The Chief Minister couldn’t hide his annoyance either. While coming to Writers Buildings, he came across a slogan-shouting CITU procession that blocked Park Street. For the first time ever, he got off the car and asked CITU supporters to behave. ‘‘Take your processions from one corner of the road and keep your voices low. There are health centres around,” he said before leaving. They gave him the right of way while they held the city to ransom.