By IANS
Kolkata : The Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), part of West Bengal’s ruling Left Front, Sunday blamed their ally Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) for the continuing violence and killings in Nandigram.
“All the three Left Front allies hold the CPI-M solely responsible for the present situation in Nandigram. We do not support what has been going on there and unequivocally condemn the barbarism and spiralling violence taking place in the area,” CPI state secretary Manju Kumar Majumdar told reporters after an emergency meeting of the three parties at the Forward Bloc office.
“We ask the Left Front government to immediately restore normality and peace in the area,” he said.
The Left Front partners clarified that while they condemn the violence in Nandigram, they do not support the shutdown called by opposition parties Monday.
While the Congress and the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) have separately called a 24-hour shutdown, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appealed for a 48-hour shutdown from Monday.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has announced an indefinite stir to cripple the state from the same day.
The Left allies also asked RSP leader and PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami to reconsider his wish to quit from the cabinet.
Goswami, who Saturday expressed a desire to resign from the government in protest, reiterated his decision Sunday not to attend his office from Monday and not to use his official car.
“I don’t want to attend office. I have communicated my decision to the party secretary and they would discuss in the party and take a decision. I have also decided not to use my official car,” said Goswami, one of the vocal critics of the government over Nandigram.
The renewed violence from Saturday in Nandigram, about 150 km from here in East Midnapore district, has taken the death toll since January to 34.