Time for course correction in West Bengal, says CPI

'Nano factory or chemical hub should not be made priorities' is the lesson learnt

PTI | June 11, 2010



Holding the "wrong" industrialisation and other policies of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government responsible for the defeat of Left Front in the recent West Bengal civic polls, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan today said they need to be reconsidered.

"What is very clear is that some of the policies which the (Bengal) Government pursued did not find favour with the people. Industrialisation has to take place. But in the name of industrialisation, you cannot take away fertile agriculture land," he said at a 'Meet the Press' organised here by the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ).

"In the name of industrialisation, we cannot bring industries, which I think, are not going to cater immediately to the needs of people. Chemical hub or a Nano car factory, these cannot be priorities," he said.

Minorities, who are in substantial numbers in West Bengal, have also moved away from the Left, which is another important reason for failure of the ruling coalition at the hustings, Bardhan, whose party is part of the CPM-led government in the state, said.

"These policies have to be reconsidered. Some steps were taken. They were not enough. 33 years in power also has a damaging effect on the psyche of those who are in power.

Therefore, it has a debilitating effect. We will continue to fight. We will continue to rebuild the base that has eroded," he added.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Counting matters but which ones?

The first instinct of public policy is to count. Its harder task is to count what counts. We have become remarkably good at measuring the reach of the welfare state vis-à-vis beneficiaries covered, rupees transferred, houses built, connections installed and services delivered. But some of the most

Inching closer to a trade deal with America

The cooperation between India and the United States goes back quite a time. We need to relegate that era to the backburner when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited US in the times of president Dwight Eisenhower and called the American let-off of 10 million dollars in defence aid to Pakistan as a “gun w

Manch vs Musk: Forty people and a foreign billionaire

About forty people walked the roundabout on Teen Murti Marg to the gate of Chanakyapuri police station, a distance you could cover in under a minute, on Friday to protest against Elon Musk’s Starlink. The walk was called by the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch. Nobody joined them on the way, and nobody seeme

Master sculptor recalls the making of the Shankaracharya statue

The Golden Chisel: The Story Behind the Making of Ram Lalla  By Seethalakshmi S. and Rahul Nandan Rupa Publications, 168 pages, Rs 395  

Mumbai’s missing affordable homes

Mumbai’s real estate market keeps growing, yet homeownership remains out of reach for much of its population. Three experts – urban researcher Hussain Indorewala, urban planner Vidyadhar Phatak and developer Kamlesh Thakur of NAREDCO Maharashtra, agree that simply constructing more apartments

Rubio denies US foreknowledge of Starlink restrictions in Ukraine

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said he was unfamiliar with the Wall Street Journal report suggesting Elon Musk had decided to throttle Starlink services in Ukraine, but rejected claims that Washington had ordered the restrictions to pressure Kyiv.   “There was no

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter