Trinamool to campaign against Naxals

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, under fire from the Left parties for its nexus with the outlawed Naxals, will launch an aggressive campaign in the Naxal-dominated areas of West Bengal.

Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore — the three Naxal-infested districts — will see witness major roadshow and rallies with the dual plank of peace and development by the Trinamool leadership.

The party has decided to launch its campaign in a bid to distance itself from the Naxals who, as a war tactics, try to stall many development projects in their area of influence.

“In the next few weeks, we will launch this campaign in the so-called Maoist areas. Mamata Banerjee’s pictures will be displayed along with slogans like ‘we want peace’ and ‘we want development’. Every day, we will walk at least 10 kilometers amidst the tribal habitats. Our leaders will share meals with the tribals and interact with them,” Minister of State for Rural Development and Trinamool Congress MP Sisir Adhikari told Business Standard.

In a defiant mood, Adhikari also added: “We hear that almost everyday people are getting killed in these areas but we’ll undertake the campaign and spent a number of days there. Let me see, who has the guts to kill us!”

This enthusiasm — to counter the allegations of a nexus with the Naxals and gain political grounds ahead of the crucial 2011 Assembly polls — is essentially directed at the Union home ministry. The Trinamool’s has drawn a roadmap for campaigning in Lalgarh and other areas where a joint operation by the Central and state forces against the Naxals are underway and are likely to continue.

Earlier, whenever the Trinamool ministers in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had gone to sympathise with the tribals and protest against the security operations, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had issued advises to his ministerial colleagues against going in the scene of operations.

Mamata Banerjee’s party had not only paid little heed to those advises but slammed the Centre’s decision to help the state by carrying out anti-Naxal operations.

But of late, Banerjee has been trying to express her differences with the Naxals after a series of attacks on trains rang the alarm bells in the Trinamool camp.

The Trinamool leaders will also try to show that the party doesn’t endorse the method of violence used by the Naxals and are in favour of peace in the tribal-dominated areas.

Interestingly, the Trinamool’s scheme is planned at a time when the CPI(M) has planned a massive campaign against the Naxals across the country. In West Bengal, the CPI(M)’s campaign will focus on the alleged nexus between the Trinamool and Naxals.