Howrah: Painting a bleak picture of West Bengal under Trinamool Congress rule, former state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on Sunday said a 'desperate' situation prevailed in the state in which farmers were unable to sell their produce and new industry was shying away.
Farmers in rural Bengal were finding it difficult to sell their paddy and other agricultural produce as the "price they are getting is uneconomic", he told a rally at the conclusion of the four-day state conference of the CITU.
No new industry was coming up and those which had promised to invest in the state during Left rule were departing. "The government failed to attract a single fresh investment. IT majors Wipro and Infosys, who came here during our rule, are now thinking of leaving the state. What will happen to the state?" Bhattacharjee wondered.
He said no new investment would come up, if the state government failed to provide land to the investors. Singur, where the TMC led a violent agitation, now lay barren, quite contrary to promises of new industry made by the TMC, he pointed out.
"Hooghly's profile would have been different by now, if their plan to bring industry to Singur was not thwarted." He said at a time when salaries of ministers in the TMC-led government had gone up from Rs 7,000 during Left rule to Rs 27,000 now, ex-transport workers were not getting their legitimate pension, and many of them were committing suicides.
He said the power situation now was good only because there was no new industry and wondered how new power projects would come up if the state government failed to make available land. Similarly, the law and order situation in the state was deteriorating everyday with the ruling party's vindictive attitude and attack on women.
Bhattacharjee also slammed the recent development at Haldia port where a cargo handling company left because of the role played by an MP. He also questioned the role of a minister in the police action in Dubrajpur in Birbhum district. "The situation now is such that if anybody opposes the government, he is threatened," he said.
"Why is she (Mamata Banerjee) so arrogant? She has won the election - Is that the reason ? Still she can't do whatever she likes. This can't continue. People won't accept this any more" Bhattacharjee said. "Why will nobody be allowed to speak against her government? The government acts immediately if somebody is vocal against it. Is it democracy or party dictatorship?" Bhattacharjee said.
Shymal chakraborty was reelected president of the state CITU while Kali Ghose was replaced by Dipak Dasgupts as the general secretary.
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