The National Democratic Alliance will discuss the issue of land acquisition in Nandigram, which sparked off violence claiming several lives, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh said in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress claimed that the bullet-riddled body, which was recovered from Kangra village was that of a party supporter.
East Midnapore district police Superintendent G Srinivas said the firing and hurling of bombs lasted for about an hour and stopped at around 12 noon.
'Women are likely to have voted because of the numerous welfare schemes. The CAA consolidated minority votes and the BJP's booth-level organisation in Bengal is weak.'
CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on the incidents in Nandigram and its aftermath.
Nandigram today is a conglomeration of model villages fenced by its greenery.
Top Maoist leader Vekanteshwar Reddy alias Telugu Dipak, a close aide of Kishenji who was arrested in Kolkata on Tuesday, had focused on Nandigram, where a land war had been fought in 2007, besides adjoining Khejuri and Kolkata, a senior police official said.
The counting of votes for the politically senstive Nandigram assembly by-election started on Friday amidst tight security, official sources said.
Ahead of panchayat elections, fresh violence broke out in Nandigram on Saturday with two women raped allegedly by Communist Party of India-Marxist cadres during a clash between supporters of Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee and Marxists at Adhikaripara in Nandigram in which eight BUPC men were injured.
The CPI-M, however, charges Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee, which spearheaded the anti land-acquisition movement in Nandigram, of 'politicising' the issue and said the people had to first return home to get the compensation.
The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, which catapulted to power because of the Singur and Nandigram agitations, on Friday decided to withdraw cases filed by previous Left Front regime against activists, including two ministers and a prominent Trinamool Congress MP.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday criticised the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee led-government in West Bengal for its handling of the situation in Nandigram, and said that she was concerned over the law and order situation in the area. She said that the Congress officer-bearers in the state had complained of repeated torture and atrocities against the people, adding that in a democracy, there was no place for political violence.
Since Saturday night, bombs were being hurled from Khejuri towards Nandigram and gunshots were heard in Kedorabarchak area, a PTI correspondent said.
Hitting back at the intellectuals who criticised the Bengal government on the Nandigram issue, senior Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Brinda Karat on Sunday said that she was puzzled by their silence when hundreds of villagers were not allowed entry for the past several months. The party politburo member said that they did not raise their voice when over 3,500 villagers were living in camps for about 11 months and denied entry to Nandigram.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya continued defending the actions of Communist Party of India Marxist cadres in Nandigram on Wednesday, unfazed by the scathing attack by his coalition partners about his previous comments. "I am saying today what I have said yesterday. Those who returned home merely followed the tactics of the opposition," said the chief minister,
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Wednesday announced that a proposed chemical hub would not be set up in Nandigram.
The deceased has been identified as Manas Das, an active local committee member of CPI-M, East Midnapore district Superintendent of Police G Srinivas told reporters in Nandigram.
Nandigram has been witnessing sporadic clashes between supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee, which is spearheading the agitation against land acquisition for a SEZ there.
The Communists demonstrated that they are tyrants just like the Tsars.
The filmmaker lauded West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi for his 'courageous statement' indicting the state government and the ruling Left for Nandigram incidents.
Devi alleged some villages in the East Midnapore district were being attacked every night with bombs and guns by people from Khejuri, just opposite Nandigram with a canal dividing the two.
The doctors who deposed were from hospitals of Nandigram, Khejuri and Tamluk to which persons injured in the police firing on March 14 were admitted
Nandigram may have turned into a war zone once more but the industry feels that the issue is national. Despite the current crisis being a turf war between the political parties, the genesis of the issue is land acquisition for a chemical hub project. Harsh K Jha, president, Indian Chamber of Commerce and MD of Tata Metaliks, said Nandigram per se may be a state issue but it has affected the investment climate and land acquisition across the country.
The Communist Party of India -Marxist captured fresh areas in Nandigram on Wednesday, where two people were injured in renewed violence. Meanwhile, two of those injured in Tuesday's violence died on Wednesday, taking the toll to four. Two persons, including a woman, were injured in renewed violence at around noon today. Violence was reported from Tekhalibazar, Maheshpur, Bhangaberia, Sonachura, Satengabari, Gokulnagar and Adhikaripara besides other places.
His claim at the press conference that vested interests were trying to divide Hindus and Muslims in Nandigram drew an angry response from the BUPC.
The meeting came in the wake of a successful discussion between Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.
According to a source, the chief minister told the meeting that compensation, which is a major demand by allies and opposition parties, could be given after following due procedure.
Dasmunshi said the chief minister, who cannot avoid administrative responsibility for the incident, should offer a public apology for it.
A member of the CBI team said on condition of anonymity that none of the arrested belonged to Nandigram, and that they had arrived from outside.
The Trinamool Congress will launch a Nandigram type of movement with its rally at Lalgarh on Monday in 'Jungle Mahal' prior to the assembly elections in West Bengal next year.
Trinamool supporters were seen holding placards and shouting slogans in protest against the renewed violence at Nandigram on Sunday that claimed at least one life and left several injured.
The area has seen violent protests in the past month.
Former Communist Party of India-Marxist MP Lakshman Seth, arrested for alleged involvement in the disappearance of six persons in Nandigram in 2007, was on Friday granted bail by the Calcutta high court after remaining in custody for 118 days.
Talking about the much-debated issue of land acquisition, Sen said industry bodies were in favour of direct purchase of land from the owners and state governments to be mere facilitators.
The bombs were lobbed from Khejuri at around 10 pm by unidentified persons though there were no reports of any casualties, police said.
Sources said they would gherao the Block Development Officer's office and local police station on January 25 to protest the bombings and to demand a thorough inquiry into the violence on January seven in which six persons were killed.
Steven Shavell of the Harvard Law School has made a suggestion that the CPI(M) needs to grasp like a drowning man clutches a straw
The Communist Party of India-Marxist should apologise to the people of West Bengal for its "policy mistake" in Singur and Nandigram that was reflected in the Left Front's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said in Ranchi on Monday.
Clashes resurfaced after four months on Sunday and Monday morning. Guns were allegedly used in the clashes between CPI-M workers and Trinamool Congress-backed Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee members, leaving five injured.
He told the state party conference that West Bengal now stood at the crossroads and there was no prior model for industrialisation available to it.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances