Bandh paralyses Bengal

DISQUIET IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

A bandh called by the entire Opposition paralysed life in West Bengal today. The state government headquarters at Writers' Building were virtually deserted and more interestingly, even Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was absent most of the day.

Late in the day, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee told the media from her temporary camp at Tamluk, the district headquarters of East Midnapore, that atrocities were continuing unabated at Nandigram and only a few areas had been secured by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). In other areas, CPI(M) mobs were identifying and expelling all those they felt were not supporters of the party, she alleged.

Soon thereafter, state Left Front chairman Biman Bose said the bandh had been enforced by non-Left parties and denied any atrocities by the CPI(M). He denied allegations that the CPI(M) was preventing the media from entering Nandigram.

At Writers' Building, only a few ministers and bureaucrats came to work, and almost the entire staff was absent despite the fact that most of the workforce belonged to the CPI(M)'s co-ordination committee. The state government appeared to be disinterested in maintaining normal public life, with very few state transport corporation buses running and the doors of most state offices remaining locked.

Flights took off and landed from the Netaji Subhas International Airport here, but many passengers were stranded at the airport due to lack of transport to the city.

Metro trains ran at long intervals while local and long distance trains were stopped frequently by members of the political parties enforcing the strike.

Salt Lake's Sector V, the IT hub of Kolkata that houses some 70 small to big size IT and ITeS companies, saw attendance of close to 75 per cent on Monday. Sate IT secretary Siddharth said the BPOs functioned normally while a few of the software firms decided to remain closed, swapping the two-day weekend holiday with Monday and Tuesday.

A few of the software companies in Sector V saw attendance of close to 40 per cent, official sources said. Wipro Technologies, which employs close to 100 people, however, remained closed.

Work went unhindered at the Tata Motors small car project site in Singur, though fewer workers reported for work.

Adding to the political uncertainty, Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi visited senior CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu's residence and urged Basu to take the lead in restoring peace at Nandigram. Many saw this as an indication of a further loss of Bhattacharjee's authority, and the recognition of the fact that the CPI(M) was directly running the state and not the government administration.

Bhattacharjee's pet project, the Kolkata Film Festival, was also deserted and there were only 100-odd people at the complex built for thousands. Most authors, film and theatre sector heavyweights and artists had decided to boycott the festival to protest the events at Nandigram.

Home Secretary P R Roy said the bandh passed off peacefully despite some stray incidents. At least 383 bandh supporters were arrested state-wide, including 33 in the metropolis, Roy told reporters here.