By IANS
Kolkata : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch and former West Bengal chief minister Joyti Basu Thursday urged his party workers to consolidate the Left Front's base at the district level.
"We have to strengthen our organisation at the district level and for that we have to hold regular meetings with the Front partners in all the districts at least once a month," Basu said at a function organised to celebrate the completion of 30 years of the Left Front rule in West Bengal.
"There is no scope for self-complacency. Our responsibility has increased with the growing support of the common people. Now we have to do something better for the masses," he said, expressing his gratitude to the people of Bengal for electing the Left Front in seven consecutive state elections.
Criticising the opposition parties in the state, the former chief minister said they should be more responsible.
"We never opposed industrialisation even when we were in the opposition. The only thing we demanded was the right of trade unionism. It's very unfortunate that the opposition in Bengal is on a wrong track," the nonagenarian leader said.
"We have done almost 90 to 95 percent of the work but some of it remains. We didn't hide anything from the people in West Bengal. We have confessed our limitations and what we could not achieve in the last 30 years of the Left rule in Bengal," Basu said.
Arguing for industrialisation, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said the main source of power of the Left Front was the peasants' movement.
"Even today 84 percent of total agricultural land in West Bengal belongs to the poor people. The panchayat is also in their control and now we have achieved the first position in agricultural production in the country," Bhattacharya said.
"But like agriculture, West Bengal has to progress in industries too," he said.
"Heavy industries like iron and steel, medium and small scale units, petrochemicals and knowledge-based industries – all are required for the wholesome growth of West Bengal," he said.
"I still request the opposition to think over their stand on industrialisation. The young generation will not forgive them for their anti-industrialisation movement in Bengal," he said.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee held a public meeting at Esplanade observing the day as 'Kalankamochon divas' (a day to wipe out shame).