Alleging that the Maoists, the Trinamool Congress, and the Maoist-backed Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (PSBJC) were working “in political coordination,” West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Friday that it was imperative that the Trinamool be defeated in the ongoing Assembly elections to drive the Maoists out of the State.
“We must defeat the Trinamool Congress in order to defeat the Maoists,” Mr. Bhattacharjee told journalists. He said the three forces — the Trinamool, Maoists and the PSBJC — were “working in cooperation and coordination” in the Maoist-affected regions.
Speaking about the 14 constituencies in the rebel-affected Jangal Mahal region — in parts of Bankura, Purulia and Paschim Medinipur districts, which go to the polls in the last phase of the elections on May 10 — Mr. Bhattacharjee said that “often, the Maoist problem is confused to be a development issue, but lack of development is not the only reason for the situation.”
On whether the January 7 killings in Netai in Paschim Medinipur district, in which several local leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are accused, will impact the elections in Jangal Mahal, he said the issue was unlikely to have any bearing.
“In Jangal Mahal, development and the violence perpetrated by the Maoists are the main issues for the people there. The people want to see the last of the Maoists and the results of the elections will reflect it,” he said.
‘Already implemented'
On the development package for the region proposed by the Trinamool, Mr. Bhattacharjee said: “They are promising a package; we are already implementing a package.”
He pointed to the distribution of patta land to 27,000 tribals and subsidies on forest products, apart from programmes in education and health, to substantiate his claim. He added that development activities there, which had been stalled for sometime, were back in full swing.
Stating that attempts were being made to intimidate voters and disrupt the CPI(M)'s political programme in the region, Mr. Bhattacharjee appealed to the people to cast their votes in this “important election.”
On whether the poll boycott called by the Maoists would affect voter turnout, he said the people “will simply ignore their call” and cast their votes as they had done on previous occasions.
