We made many mistakes over three decades, says Bengal CM

In a candid admission, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the Left Front government in the state had committed mistakes over three decades with regard to its land-acquisition policy, among other things.

"We made mistakes for past three decades in panchayats and education. We made a mistake in land acquisition. But we have corrected it. We have now become careful," Bhattacherjee told a programme to mark the 122nd birth anniversary of Muzaffar Ahmed, one of the founders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

"We made a mistake in Nandigram and we have corrected it. But it was not wrong to go for industrialisation. Its target was employment," he said, adding that a section of the peasantry and the people, however, did not accept it.

Bhattacherjee claimed, however, that the achievements of the Left Front government were far more than its failures.

Claiming that the Left was the only alternative for the people, he said, "In the interests of the people if there is a mistake in policy we rectify it."

Urging the party to reach out to people who had turned their faces against the Left Front government, he said, "Only the red flag can protect the poor people."

Without directly naming the Trinamool Congress, he accused Mamata Banerjee's party of joining hands with the Maoists and ridiculed its call for change.

"This anarchic party cannot be an alternative," the chief minister said. "They want change. Change for what? They are taking the help of whoever they can.

"They have joined hands with those who killed 150 passengers of Gyaneshwari Express," he said, referring to the August 9 rally at Lalgarh called by Banerjee. The rally has been supported by the Maoists.