Somnath Chatterjee flays West Bengal chief minister's 'amra, ora' remark

Former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee today criticised West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's infamous diatribe 'amra, ora' (we and others) on opposition parties, saying such remarks would have an adverse impact on the CPI-M.

Chatterjee was referring to the chief minister's comments during the land acquisition controversy in Nandigram and Singur in 2008 when the latter termed the CPI-M favouring the process as 'amra' and those opposing it as 'ora'.

The veteran leader was speaking at the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce during Independence Day celebration. 

He remarked that the land acquisition for setting up industry was a must and pulled up Trinamool Congress for opposing lawful means of land acquirement.

Speaking on the prospects of his former party in the 2011 Assembly elections, Chatterjee said he did not know how the party would fare, but pointed out that winning seven Assembly terms at a stretch was not a easy job.

"I do not know what will happen in the next election, but winning seven terms consecutively is an exemplary job not witnessed anywhere in the country," he said.

Chatterjee also endorsed the current trend of Left Front leaders to own up mistakes.

"Despite being an MP from Bolpur for several terms, I have failed to realise why education had failed to reach the tribals of the area. Some 80 per cent of the students there fail to clear board-level examinations," he said.