Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Nilotpal Basu on Monday explained his party's stand on the Nandigram police firing, which killed 14 people.
"I have been asked time and again what forced the party general secretary Prakash Karat to announce that Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is not going to be replaced in view of the Nandigram controversy.
"The clarification was necessary in view of some speculative stories in the media. Our chief minister is doing a good job and as party general secretary said there is no move to change him," Basu told rediff.com in an informal chat.
He argued though the Kolkatta high court order asking the Central Bureau of Investigation was judicially not correct, the CPM will not contest the order.
"The chief minister wanted a judicial probe to be announced but before he could do so the court ordered a CBI probe without hearing the state government. We are not going to find fault with the order. Let the CBI do its job," he said.
He blamed the Union government for creating disparity between states by giving special concessions to certain states like Uttarakhand, which offers concessions to industrialists. "Now we are going to move the chemical hub to another place," he announced. According to Basu, 16-year-old girl Sunita Mondel was first raped and then killed.
Similarly a 24-year-old boy was beheaded. "The state had send in police to restore law and order in the region. We regret the lives lost in the incident but if we haven't acted many more would have been killed," he said.
He charged Medha Patkar of joining the debate on Nandigram without knowing the basic facts. He claimed that the Naxals who were present in the area were responsible for the killings.
"Leader of opposition L K Advani says that he had never witnessed something like this before. He has conveniently forgotten Gujarat. We want to give jobs to our boys and for that it is essential that we set up industries in our state. The climate is changing. Investments from foreign countries like Japan and industrialists is pouring," he said.
He did not agree with Prakash Singh Badal, chief minister of Punjab, that the states should be given more financial autonomy. "Badal must realise that he cannot do anything unless the Centre restores parity between all the states and stops squeezing them. The Centre must not allow the market forces to dictate financial investments," Nilotpal Basu said.
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