Terming the attack against its leader Abdur Rezzak Mollah and party activists in Kolkata as 'a brutal gang-rape of democracy', the Communist Party of India-Marxist accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of directing the state police to arrest the victims instead of the perpetrators of violence.
Mollah is worried about the fate of the CPI-M followers in the state, now that the party has been reduced to only one seat in the state.
Among the major projects affected are the proposed steel plants of Videocon, Bhushan Steel and the Abhijit group. Neeraj Singhal, managging director of Bhushan Steel, said it would be difficult to acquire land wihtout government support. The decisin would also impact a host of projects lined up by New Kolkata International Development, a special purpose vehicle promoted by the Salim Group of Indonesia and the Universal Success group.
Left workers were attacked and several vehicles set ablaze allegedly by the Trinamool Congress at Bamunghata in South 24 Parganas district on Tuesday when they were going to attend a rally to protest Sunday's attack on Marxist leader Abdur Rezzak Mollah, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and former minister Kanti Ganguly said.
The policies that kept the Left Front in power for 30 years are proving major obstacles in the state's bid to industrialise.
Commerce and industry minister Nirupam Sen and land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah say the figures are yet to be collated. West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation sources said land losers would only be known once the projects are awarded.
Claiming that the Left Front has failed to cope with the situation in West Bengal, controversial Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Abdur Rezzak Mollah today used a naxalite platform, without party consent, to call for building a strong Left platform to 'resist attack' on farmers and the working class in the state.
The new faces in the state cabinet include former Indian cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Shovandeb Chattopadhaya, Kolkata Mayor Shovan Chatterjee, Abani Mohan Joarder, Abdur Rezzak Mollah, Suvendu Adhikari, Rabindranath Ghosh, Churamani Mahato, James Kujur, Siddikullah Choudhury, Asima Patra, Ghulam Rabbani, Zakir Hossain, Sandhya Rani Tudu, singer Indranil Sen, Tapan Dasgupta and B Hansda.
Mamata Banerjee was on Friday sworn in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time, heading a 42-member ministry.
Party leaders are being forced to bite the tongue while answering queries on cut money and alleged arrogance of local TMC leaders.
Trinamool Congress will go it alone in next month's Assembly election in West Bengal, party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday said and declared the list of TMC candidates which included sports personalities, actors and journalists.
'Mamata Banerjee was an anti-body that the people of West Bengal needed to throw the CPI-M out. Though the disease is no more, we are suffering the anti-body. It is a punishment for the people of this state.' BJP leader Tathagatha Roy lashes out at the West Bengal chief minister.
