Buddha regrets, but no one is smiling

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s regret for his “paid back in their own coin” comment in the wake of the Nandigram killings is not finding many takers. Neither among his comrades and allies, nor among the opposition.

Bhattacharjee, in one of his rare media interactions in Delhi on Tuesday, acknowledged he should not have said that the opposition in Nandigram had been paid back in its own coin by his party workers during the infamous “recapture” of the region by the CPI(M). The chief minister also accepted that Nandigram was a “political and administrative failure”.

About intellectuals who hit the streets protesting Nandigram, he said he would initiate a dialogue with them to bridge the divide, adding that the intellectuals were “sensitive” and many had begun to understand the reality that led to Nandigram.

The fact that Bhattacharjee chose Delhi to express the regret has led to the perception that it was a public-relation exercise lacking in political substance. Otherwise, he would have made similar statements in his home state or in Nandigram itself. This conclusion has also been reinforced by reactions of CPI(M) leaders who say what the chief minister said was neither a regret nor acknowledgement of “mistakes” in Nandigram.

With no regret, party central committee member Binoy Konar said, “They learnt their lessons in Singur. We learnt ours from Nandigram and made our way back there. They compelled us to take up arms and we gave them a befitting reply.”

Commenting on the chief minister’s so-called regret, CPI(M) spokesperson Shymal Charkaborty said, “The chief minister only reiterated what the party has been saying all along — that we failed to convince the people of Nandigram about industrialisation and we have learnt from that mistake.”
 
Asked specifically about the chief minister saying he should not have made the comment of paying back in their own coin, Chakraborty said if that had been the party’s opinion it would have said so from the party forum.

At the other end of the political spectrum, Mamata Banerjee refused to buy into the chief minister’s regret and said, “The chief minister has made it a habit of unleashing terror in the state and expressing regret later. If he admits that Nandigram is an administrative and political failure, it is a good enough reason for him to resign.”

Caught in between, CPI(M) allies RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI, while thanking the chief minister for his remarks in Delhi, remained sceptical and maintained that there exists a wide gulf between what Bhattacharjee says and does.

Veteran Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh said, “We are thankful to the chief minister for what he said in Delhi. But at the same time he must remember he does not run a government of the CPI(M) but that of a Left Front. All that happened in Nandigram and Singur is because of the unilateralism of the CPI(M).”

Manoj Bhattachaya of RSP, one of the most vocal critics of the CPI(M), said, “It is clear from the statement of the chief minister that there has been administrative and political failure. We have been saying this repeatedly over the past months. But the CPI(M) is making mistakes repeatedly. Mere expression of regret cannot help regain the confidence of the people. Action will have to match the words.”

Bhattacharjee’s regret may not have been accepted in political circles, but industry and business support to him seems unflinching.

Sanjiv Goenka, vice-chairman of the Rs12,000 crore RPG Enterprises, said, “I have had the confidence and continue to have confidence in the economic future of West Bengal.”

d_ajoy@dnaindia.net