"It is amazing that such claims are being made that most of the work has already been done in industry, agriculture, employment, education and other sectors and nothing more is left to be done," Bhattacharjee told a CPI(M) rally in this industrial township in North 24 Parganas district.
Stating that investors were not getting assurance from the government on availability of land, Bhattacharjee said "without development of industry, no state can prosper. Mere dependence on agriculture will not help in the development of economy."
Claiming that farmers were committing suicide in the absence of remunerative prices, he said "Development in the state has taken a backseat under the new government which is indifferent to the plight of farmers."
Bhattacharjee said that during his tenure the Left Front government invited IT majors like Infosys and Wipro. "But situation has not at all improved from the place where we left."
He also alleged that panchayats were losing their democratic character with the state government taking away economic power and reposing responsibility on bureaucrats. "This is a dangerous trend."