Mamata’s `mahajot’ gets new impetus

Chowdhury’s meeting with Banerjee was being described as politically significant by observers since he is scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi tomorrow.

Dasmunshi, who met Banerjee separately, was however more cautious. He has reportedly said that the Congress was fully behind her in demanding a CBI inquiry into the Hemnagar massacre. On the law and order issue, he said, the Congress would be by the side of the Trinamool Congress.

Both Chowdhury and Dasmunshi have reportedly discussed the issue of a mahajot, the details of which were not disclosed by either side.

The CPI(M) is evidently on the defensive now, particularly with the PWG claiming that ten of its supporters were killed and the bodies removed in Hemnagar. The incident has put Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya in a difficult position with pressure mounting on the government from various quarters to come clean on the issue. From his initial rigid stand that it was a simple case of arson in Hemnagar, he had climbed down yesterday to admit that some “political clash might have taken place”.

It is becoming increasingly evident that the law and order issue is going to be his major headache as there are distinct indications of further deterioration in the situation as the elections approach. Last night, dacoits struck yet again at a village in Diamond Harbour, killing a person. The village was close to the one where Bhattacharya had gone about a week ago after having travelled in a cycle rickshaw and some distance on foot.

An emergency meeting of the Left Front committee has been convened tomorrow while a crucial meeting of the CPI(M) is scheduled to be held in a day or two to discuss the new emerging political equations.