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CM abstains from event hosted by U.K. mission

By Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA APRIL 1. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and one of his Cabinet colleagues today skipped a workshop organised by the British Deputy High Commission here, triggering speculation that the ruling Leftists had decided to stay away from public events directly associated with either the U.S. or the U.K. missions in the city in protest against the invasion of Iraq.

A CPI(M) politburo member said the Chief Minister and the Urban Development Minister, Ashok Bhattacharya, were pre-occupied. But insiders said the CPI(M) leadership was, indeed, seized of the issue as many in the party believed that participating in events sponsored by either of the two missions might send out a wrong signal to those against the war. In private, many leaders argued that neither the party nor the Government was the least interested in organising a boycott because "in the final analysis, such a thing means nothing.''

A number of development projects in Bengal are operating on the strength of funds provided by various U.S. and U.K. agencies. "If we keep that in view, the mention of a boycott would probably throw a laugh, '' Biman Bose , politburo member and the ruling Left Front chairman, said.

The Chief Minister was not available for comment. Officials at the British Deputy High Commission said that Mr. Bhattacharjee had informed them that he would not be able to participate in the Kolkata Waterfront workshop because of "other pre-occupations.''

The British Deputy High Commissioner, Andrew Hall, and a seven-member British delegation led by the chairman of the London Rivers Association, George Nicholson, and the director of English Heritage, Philip Davies, participated in the workshop where the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor, Subrata Mukherjee, was also present. Mr. Mukherjee described the absence of the leftists as illogical. "They have taken an extreme position on the issue. I am also opposed to the war on Iraq. But one should not mix development with politics.''

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