Citu backs Buddha's demand on bandh

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, former West Bengal Chief Minister and once-upon-a-time poster boy of industrialization, today did the unimaginable by making the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) toe his line.

After Bhattacharjee told a television channel that he had asked his Delhi colleagues to reconsider the Bharat Bandh on February 21, state CITU announced that the second day of the two-day bandh would be converted into an industrial bandh.

The transport sector and educational institutions were being kept out of the ambit of the Left-parties supported all-India bandh against financial sector reforms and foreign director industrialization in retail.

February 21 happens to coincide with Bhasha Divas and Bhattacharjee said, in his first interview since the electoral debacle last year that he was against disrupting celebrations on that day. This is not the first time that Bhattacharjee had expressed his disapproval about what he called the “bandh culture” in Bengal.

As Chief Minister, he had once famously said at a chamber meeting, “unfortunately I belong to a party that calls bandhs.” That, however, had evoked a strong reaction from his party, which was not on the same page as Bhattacharjee, as far as industrialization was concerned.

Today, a year and a halfafter the party has suffered its worst defeat, industrialization appears to have been chosen as one of the major poll planks for the upcoming panchayat elections, and clearly, Bhattacharjee is the Chosen One to lead the campaign.Ironically, however, it was Bhattacharjee’s industrialization policy that had cost the Left the last assembly elections. But emboldened with the party behind him, Bhattacharjee said that he was in support of big industries, unlike his successor who believes in micro and small industries.

“Small industries cannot be the focus, they will come as ancillaries with the big industries,” Bhattacharjee told the television channel.

He even said that he was for a greater government role in land acquisition even for private projects.

“We should have a balanced land acquisition policy, but if we say that we will not acquire any land why should investors come. I am worried that this government has no vision, they are against SEZ. I had promised Wipro and Infosys SEZ status. Where will Bengal stand in the national context five years from now. People will laugh at us,” Bhattacharjee said.