After forcing the police out, agitating tribals of Lalgarh today prevented paramilitary forces from entering the area even as the West Bengal government brought in reinforcement of CRPF men in a bid to break the siege.
The state government had sought additional five companies of central forces to control the tribal unrest in Lalgarh in West Midnapore district.
Faced with the current unrest in rural West Bengal after the ruling CPI(M) suffered its worst defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, members of the party’s state secretariat today held an emergency meeting to find a solution to the current political crisis.
After hours of deliberation, the party issued a brief statement expressing its concern over the situation in restive Lalgarh and elsewhere. Also, an emergent meeting of the Left Front has been convened tomorrow morning.
Chief Secretary Ashokmohan Chakravarty said the state government was in touch with the Jharkhand administration and efforts were on to seal the inter-state border to restrict the entry of Naxals. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has often mentioned that the Naxals are using Jharkhand as their base to launch attack on Bengal’s soil.
However, the state administration is now in a catch-22 situation. If it does not take any action, as has been the case for the past six months, that does not deter the tribals from taking the offensive. If it takes the hard option, then there is a risk of spilling blood of the tribals. Politically, this is not acceptable to the ruling Left in the present volatile situation. By continuing attack on CPI(M) workers, their party offices and police camps, the Naxals are provoking the government to fall into that trap.
There is also a strong apprehension among some of the Left Front partners that the CPI(M) will replace the chief minister. A senior Left Front leader, who had spoken to CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose hours before the secretariat meeting, found him highly depressed and morose. The Front leader fears that the CPI(M) state leadership might announce its decision soon. But, Rezzak Molla, senior CPI(M) leader and minister for land and land reforms, is not very sure. Molla says: “It is difficult for the party to arrive at a decision as there are contrary opinions prevailing among the party’s state-level leaders.”
The circle close to the party’s central leadership is also vehemently denying the possibility of any such development.
But notwithstanding their denial, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government is under tremendous pressure from within the ruling Left Front, and more so from the CPI(M).
However, the issue of the change of guard gives rise to another equally important question: who will replace Bhattacharjee? A section of the Left feels that this time the party will have to think out of the box and choose someone who does not have any ‘pro-capital’ image. A surprise name doing the rounds in some quarters of the Left Front is Rezzak Molla, who steadfastly opposed the state government’s land acquisition policy during the Nandigram and Singur fiasco. But, party insiders doubt if the leadership will consider Molla for the top post since he is not even a member of the state secretariat.
