Senior Congress leader and Union minister Deepa Dasmunshi, who had been on an indefinite hunger strike to press for an AIIMS-like medical institute at her Raiganj constituency, today ended her fast following a request by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Announcing withdrawal of her indefinite fast on the third day today at the base of the Gandhi statue here, Dasmunshi said that the PM, who was on an official visit to the city, spoke to her on telephone to express anguish.
It is a matter of great anguish that you are on a hunger strike for an indefinite period. I know what is happening in West Bengal, the PM is said to have told her over phone.
According to Dasmunshi, Singh also expressed his support for her demand for the setting up of an AIIMS-like super-speciality hospital at Raiganj.
"It is not your own battle for the people of your constituency and around, but the entire party is beside you for this noble cause," Dasmunshi quoted the PM as having told her.
Dasmunshi, wife of ailing former Congress MP Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, said that the PM had also told her that the Centre had okayed the proposal for the facility in 2009.
"This was my commitment to Priya," the PM told her, according to Dasmunshi.
Dasmunshi said that she would soon meet Singh in Delhi and discuss the issue in detail.
She had claimed on Friday that the Left and the Mamata Banerjee government had stalled the implementation of the proposal for the setting up the medical facility in Raiganj.
She also claimed that the farmers at the proposed site for the institute were ready to cede their land, but the West Bengal government did not take any initiative.
The government even did not issue any notice for acquisition of land for the purpose.
Describing Mamata Banerjee as a 'fascist leader' and a 'symbol of corruption', Dasmunshi threatened to launch a bigger stir, a 'fast unto death', if the state government did not issue notice for land acquisition in Raiganj immediately.
WBPCC president Pradip Bhattacharya said that the state congress unit was gearing up for a movement to highlight anarchy of the Mamata Banerjee government reflected in the chitfund scam, growing attacks on women and various scandals in education system.
"We have also briefed the state's law and order situation to the PM during his official visit to the city," Bhattacharya said.
