Buddha's smile and the Bengal polls

Is that the explanation for the apparent contradiction of a very real Maoist threat to elections in a Communist state? What is the Bengal government planning to do about it?

"There are three sides to it," said Bhattacharya. "One is that they are armed. So I can't advise satyagraha against them. Firm policing is needed. They are trying to exploit the backwardness of the areas. We have to sharpen and quicken development programmes in the area: Irrigation, natural resources, health, roads, water. Thirdly, the environment. The Naxalbari movement began in this state. There is not a single Naxal in Naxalbari (in north Bengal) now. Kanu (Sanyal) babu is there, I meet him sometimes - a good man. He himself says, 'It was a mistake.' And these people are also making a mistake," Bhattacharya declared.

There was some of the self-criticism that the CPI-M likes to flaunt.

"We know where we have made mistakes," said the chief minister, who has repeatedly highlighted that 4,600 villages in West Bengal are facing extreme poverty and backwardness. Areas like quality of education, health, needed work, he admitted. But he steadfastly defended his claim that West Bengal was an "oasis of peace."

"Law and order in the state and the metropolitan city is best in the country," he claimed.