Nandigram: Day before meet, Bengal CPM says no rollback

A day before the CPM Politburo meets in New Delhi, at which Nandigram is one of the issues for discussion

A day before the CPM Politburo meets in New Delhi, at which Nandigram is one of the issues for discussion, the party8217;s West Bengal unit has sent a message that the state8217;s policy of industrialisation and land-acquisition is on track and that the Politburo is fully in line with the state government on the issue.

8220;Our party8217;s programme of industrialisation was one of the promises of the CPM on which we came to power and it was accepted and approved by the Politburo,8221; said Biman Bose, the party8217;s state secretary and Politburo member. 8220;The Politburo knows it can not treat the manifesto as scrap and throw it into the bin,8221; Bose said, in an interview to The Indian Express.

The Politburo has been briefed in detail about the Nandigram incident, Bose said. And underlined that from now on, the 8220;party mechanism8221; would be used to support the administration8217;s efforts to acquire land.

Over the next 10-12 years, the government would have to acquire 1 lakh acres of the 1.37 crore acres of agricultural land for industrial projects, he said.

Echoing the Chief Minister8217;s words, Bose said what is needed is a change in public mindset. 8220;Once we had said 8216;Tata-Birla go away8217;,8221; Bose said. 8220;Then we realised that, to build industry, private capital is needed.8221;

The furore over the government8217;s acquisition of farmland for the Tatas8217; small-car project and the more recent violence at Nandigram over plans to build a 10,000-acre special economic zone that will be part of a chemical hub has already forced CPM general secretary Prakash Karat to come to Kolkata to calm waters within the party. 8220;We are interacting with the Politburo and have no secrets,8221; Bose said. 8220;There are no differences at the politburo level over our industrial policy,8221; he added.

When asked what the party8217;s response would be if there is a recurrence of the Nandigram violence elsewhere in the state where the SEZ would be relocated, Bose said, 8220;No. There will be no repeat of Nandigram. Many people are telling us to forget it and go to their area.8221;

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On Wednesday, CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, in his first public appearance after the March 14 death of 14 farmers in Nandigram, stressed that the SEZ would come up at an alternative location. He said the government would identify an alternative location in seven days.

Bose said, 8220;The people of Nandigram will realise one day they made a mistake.8221; At Nandigram, he claimed, those opposed to land acquisition had forced local party cadres to join them. He cited the Jindal group8217;s proposed investment of Rs 35,000 crore in a steel project at Salboni in West Midnapore district.

8220;Do you think the state has so much money?8221; he asked. When asked if the industrialisation debate could become an issue in the panchayat elections due in May 2008, Bose said: 8220;It is too early to say anything but the next year will be eventful.8221; The Politburo meeting will be followed by a CPM central committee meeting to be attended, among others, by state Commerce 038; Industries minister Nirupam Sen.