West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) chief Manas Bhunia today sought to dispel notions that he supported Housing Minister Goutam Deb in the controversial Rajarhat land acquisition issue and alleged that his name was being maligned by some Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders.
Reiterating his demand for a high-level inquiry into the land acquisition at Rajarhat, on the northern outskirts of the metropolis, Bhunia referred to the report of the Assembly Committee on Government Assurances that he had earlier headed and which had been quoted by Deb.
“In my Assurance Committee report, I said that it would be good if Deb explained the manner of land acquisition at Rajarhat to the chief minister,” he clarified at a press conference here.
Deb had quoted a report of the committee then headed by Bhunia, to say that it had lauded the manner in which the land was acquired in Rajarhat.
On November 17, Bhunia had told newsmen he had observed in his report that although there was violent resistance against land acquisition at Singur and Nandigram, land had been acquired peacefully at Rajarhat.
Bhunia had also said that compensation to land-losers at Rajarhat was low and the Haryana model should henceforth be adopted for land acquisition.
A number of newspapers and news channels interpreted his remarks as a sign of his support to Deb.
Accusing a section of leaders of TMC of trying to malign his name and that of the Congress, Bhunia said their statements would be detrimental to the alliance between the two parties.
“At a time when the Congress is becoming more visible, when more young people are joining the party, some people are upset and are maligning the party and me out of jealousy,” he said.
Stating that he was for continuing the alliance with the TMC, he said, however, “such slanders will not be good for the alliance.”
Without naming anyone, Bhunia said a top TMC leader, at the instance of party chief Mamata Banerjee, had maligned his name at his home constituency Sabang.
“Another TMC leader, who joined the party only the other day, called me an agent of the CPI(M) and said the Congress was the CPI(M)'s B-team,” he said.
