A day after the arrest of the former Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA, Sushanta Ghosh, the former Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said the Trinamool Congress-led government was indulging in politics of vendetta against the Left Front instead of addressing the problems plaguing the State.
“This government has embarked on a course of retaliatory violence. Forty years ago, there was an incident in Sainbari. The trial has been conducted, the accused have been declared innocent. But now a commission has been set up to probe the incident again,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said at a protest rally here on Friday.
Mr. Bhattacharjee alleged that Mr. Ghosh was arrested after having been implicated in a 10-year-old murder case. The new government was setting up commissions to investigate incidents that occurred years ago — the massacre at Marichjhapi, the killing of Anandamargis and the firing at protesters who marched to the Writers' Buildings. “Is this the work of a government? This retaliatory violence. How many days will this go on for,” Mr. Bhattacharjee asked, adding that the Left Front did not indulge in such politics of vendetta when it was in power.
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“The Trinamool Congress had wreaked havoc on the State Assembly, attacked offices and police stations and slapped on-duty police officers, but I did not arrest anyone,” he said, adding he had left it to the people to judge.
During the day, Biman Bose, chairman of the State Left Front Committee, led a delegation to Governor M. K. Narayanan. Submitting details of attacks on supporters, including the killing of 30 of them, rape of women, and eviction of supporters from their homes and land, the delegation asked the Governor to take measures to put an end to the violence.
“We have planned another demonstration outside Parliament for August 25 when we will go on a similar deputation to the Prime Minister,” Mr. Bose said. A gap of 13 days had been given to see if any steps were taken.
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Mr. Bhattacharjee asked supporters to prepare themselves for a struggle in difficult times as “the State government is on the wrong path.” He said Maoists were reorganising in Paschim Medinipur district and the Maoist threat would be a bigger problem in the coming days.