Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Benerjee met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday and demanded that the central government send more forces to Nandigram so that confidence of the people in the area could be restored.
"We would have been happy if Dr Singh had found time to visit Nandigram but since he cannot do so he should send all party delegation to assess the situation. Dr Singh promised us that he is on the job. We have asked him to send more central forces so that they could restore the confidence of the people. Even now bodies are being recovered," she told media persons after the meeting.
Mamata is waiting to participate in the debate over the internal security Bill in Parliament so that she could highlight the plight of the people of Nandigram. The Trinamool Congress chief, whose resignation from Lok Sabha over the issue had been rejected by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, has not been attending Parliament's proceedings for almost a month now.
She wondered how a Left government could continue to function in West Bengal when it had violated all democratic norms.
"Their cadre is being provided with arms to kill people. Women, who dared to speak up, were torched alive. One of them is struggling for life in a local hospital. Can Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya get away by saying sorry? For 14 days my workers and the media was kept away from the placeĀ
Why? The central government should immediately dismiss the Left government," she demanded.
Mamata is meeting Leader of Opposition L K Advani and is also expected to call on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
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