By IANS
Kolkata : Senior Left Front leader and West Bengal Forward Bloc secretary Ashok Ghosh Tuesday said all political parties with representation in the state assembly were invited to participate in Thursday's meeting to restore peace in Nandigram.
However, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, one of the key groups in Nandigram protests, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has no member in the state assembly, were left out.
"I had a talk with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banarjee and she said she would come with all her allies to the meeting. But she has not mentioned anything about the representation of BJP in the meeting," Ghosh said at a press conference here.
"I have requested Left Front chairman Biman Bose and communist patriarch Joyti Basu to participate. But Basu said he would not be able come for health reasons," he said.
Ghosh said he also requested Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to facilitate the peace meeting but he (Bhattacharya) said he was already doing everything needed to be done on his behalf.
West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya has also been invited to participate in the peace initiative.
BJP state secretary Rahul Sinha said the basis of assembly representation was not a healthy sign if the leaders were indeed looking for an open-minded discussion.
Ghosh had been taking a leading position in initiating peace talks to end the crisis in Nandigram, where at least 21 people have died since a flare-up in January over a special economic zone (SEZ) project.
In January, six people were killed in clashes between Communist Party of India-Marcist (CPI-M) men and the Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), a platform of opposition parties and bodies like the Trinamool Congress, Congress and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.
Thousands of people were rendered homeless since the flare-up and they were living in camps.
Shootouts, bombings and arson between rival groups continued in Nandigram over battle for taking control of villages claiming one life on April 29.