Stung by its worst ever performance in the recently held general elections, the ruling Left Front in West Bengal is adopting corrective measures and has decided not to reinstate Lakshman Seth, a former CPI(M) MP from the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency, which includes the troubled enclave of Nandigram, as chairman of the Haldia Development Authority (HDA). Seth lost the seat to Trinamool Congress’ Subhendu Adhikari by around 120,000 votes.
State Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya confirmed that Seth would not be reinstated. Seth had resigned as HDA chairman before the Lok Sabha elections, as was customary.
HDA is an autonomous body constituted under the West Bengal Town & Country Planning Act and is in the jurisdiction of the urban development ministry.
“He has lost the seat. Legally, we could have reinstated him, but we have decided not to. The chief minister will decide who will take charge of HDA,” said Bhattacharya.
The move to remove Seth from HDA assumes significance as Seth was largely held responsible for the violence in Nandigram in 2007, one of the reasons behind the Left debacle in the elections. Prior to the election, a section of the Left Front even felt that Seth should not contest it.
The CPI(M) state committee meeting on May 24 resolved to win back the support of the people that the party had lost. The party won nine of the 32 Lok Sabha seats that it contested, its worst poll performance.
Almost as a course correction, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today spent the entire day visiting Sunderbans, worst hit by yesterday’s cyclonic storm. He met the people in relief camps, as well as the authorities and police to take stock of the situation.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee also rushed to Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas to assess the damage caused by the storm, which claimed nearly 50 lives in the state.
