Left to stage state-wide agitations against Bengal government

Gearing up for the 2016 assembly polls in West Bengal, the CPI-M led left Front has lined up a series of state-wide agitations in its bid to build up a mass movement against the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress government.

Declaring its resolve, at the Brigade Parade Grounds rally on December 27 as well as its recently concluded organisational plenum, of ousting the "authoritarian" Mamata Banerjee regime, the Marxists and their mass organisations will be hitting the streets on the issues of the Saradha chit fund scam, the dismal industrial scenario as well as the plight of tea garden workers.

Demanding the prosecution of all those involved in the Saradha scam as well as indemnifying the poor investors, the Left Front will stage a demonstration at the CGO Complex which houses the offices of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate -- the two central agencies probing the multi-crore-rupee scandal.

Left leaders will also be campaigning about the January 12 demonstration across the state during January 8-12.

Under the banner of Bengal Platform of Mass Organisations (BPMO), a host of Left organisations will undertake a march from Singur in Hooghly district to Salboni in West Midnapore district, beginning January 16.

Addressing the Brigade rally, CPI-M state secretary Surjy Kanta Mishra had assured of reviving the state's industrial scenario, promising to set up industries from Salboni to Singur -- from where a massive anti-acquisition movement by the Trinamool forced Tata Motors to relocate its proposed car manufacturing unit to Gujarat.

The protest march, to be led by Left Front chairman Biman Bose and Mishra, will culminate on January 22.

The Left also announced organising similar agitations in North Bengal highlighting the plight of tea garden workers.

A large number of tea gardens have closed down or are in a state of limbo and several workers have died allegedly due to malnutrition and starvation.

On January 28, Left leaders and activists will stage a demonstration at the administrative headquarters in each of the districts.