Cong seeks President's Rule in West Bengal

Accusing West Bengal's Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government of resorting to 'planned killing' in Nandigram, the Congress on Wednesday said the situation in the state was now fit for imposition of President's Rule and called for a 12-hour general strike on March 16. 

"It can only be equated with the Jallianwala massacre. It's a planned killing under the leadership of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and it is highly condemnable," Chief Whip of Congress Manash Bhuniya told media persons.

Bhuniya said that the party has called a 12-hour general strike on Friday in protest against the incident.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, who also holds the charge of information and broadcasting, categorically rejected the charge of the Communist Party of India-Marxist that the Congress was lending tacit support to Trinamool Congress in Nandigram.

"Congress does not believe in violence," Dasmushi said in New Delhi in response to CPM leader Sitaram Yechuri's charge that Congress involvement could not be ruled out.

"Our state unit party leaders Joyti Bhattacharyajee, temporary PCC chief, and Subrat Mukherjee are on their way to Nandigram. I have been told that the police was not allowing them beyond a certain point," he said.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has expressed deep concern over the renewed violence at Nandigram in West Bengal where a Special Economic Zone is proposed to be set up.

In a statement, party leader P R Dasmunsi said that the Congress chief has asked the state unit to render all possible support to the injured and send details to the All India Congress Committee about the casualties and the situation there.

The party was contemplating filing murder cases against police officers who were involved in the operation in Nandigram if action was not taken against them by the state government, he said.

The party has also sought an appointment with Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

Asked about the problems the general strike would pose for students appearing in various examinations, he said, "So many lives have been lost, we cannot remain silent in this situation. However, the party would ensure that the examinees do not face any problems."

Earlier, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress also called for a general strike on Friday.