Cong to back Trinamool’s bandh

KOLKATA: The congress on Friday decided to support the Trinamool Congress-sponsored 12-hour Bangla Bandh on Monday even though a number of senior CPM leaders had urged the party against such support. The general secretary of PCC chief Pradip Bhattacharjee said, “there is no possibility of withdrawing support to the Trinamool-sponsored bandh on Monday.”

The CLP leader Manas Bhunia said they would take up the police ‘atrocities’ committed on Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee. “We are supporting the bandh to register our protest against the police action and West Bengal government’s move to acquire farmland for urbanisation and industrialisation.”

The Congress had attended Wednesday’s all-party meeting convened by the state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to remove confusion among opposition party leaders over the Singur land acquisition issue.

Asked whether attending the all-party meeting on one hand and supporting the Trinamool Congress-sponsored bandh on the other were contradictory decisions, Mr Bhunia said: “We had attended the meeting because we believe in democracy. In a democratic set-up all political and legislative parties have the right to attend meetings convened by the state government. Supporting the bandh is a different issue.”

“We don’t approve the police action on Mamata Banerjee and opposition leader Partha Chatterjee. We also don’t support acquisition of farmland at Singur for the Tata Motors small car unit. Which is why, we are supporting the bandh called by Trinamool Congress,” he added.

Meanwhile, Partha Chatterjee said his party would conduct street-corner meetings in at least 100 important city crossings on Saturday in support of the Monday’s bandh. “Similar meetings will be held in the districts,” he said.