Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday walked out of an all-party meeting for restoration of peace at Nandigram leading to its adjournment.
KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday walked out of an all-party meeting called to restore peace in Nandigram, forcing its abrupt adjournment over sharp differences with West Bengal's ruling CPI(M) over her insistence to term the March 14 police firing there as 'genocide'.
Transport Minister and senior CPI(M) leader Subhas Chakraborty disputed Banerjee's contention claiming a mob had first attacked the police which opened fire resulting in some casualties.
''This can't be called a genocide.''
This led Banerjee to walk out after 90 minutes of the closed-door session with her eight-member delegation, including the Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee.
She later said however that she was not averse to attending another all-party meet.
''If Forward Bloc convenes it, we will go but it should not be a CPI(M) meeting and there should be a concrete agenda for talks.
''We have no differences with Left Front partners with whom we have cordial relations,'' she told reporters at her residence.
The meeting was convened by ruling Left Front's junior partner Forward Bloc's state secretary Ashok Ghosh after authorisation from the Front.
Ghosh, when asked if the draft resolution at the meeting had mentioned 'genocide', parried the question saying Mamata Banerjee raised the genocide part. That can be discussed.''
He, however, expressed satisfaction with the meeting.
''I'm very satisfied because all participating parties placed their views. The Chief Minister had wanted to let us know each other's mind. That has been achieved.''
Ghosh said that if necessary bilateral, trilateral or group meetings could be held prior to another all-party meeting, ''for which we need to do our home work well.''
Though Banerjee claimed the meeting had been boycotted by her party, Ghosh said it had been postponed.
"We have decided to postpone today's meeting and call another shortly by fixing the venue and date," Ghosh said.
The Trinamool supremo accused CPI(M) of being responsible for the abrupt end of the meeting. "We had gone to the meeting with the hope of getting justice for the families of those killed in police firing and for the rape victims. But the CPI(M) leaders justified the police action on March 14."
PWD minister and senior RSP leader Kshiti Goswami told reporters after the meeting that Banerjee disagreed with Chakraborty over the role of police on the March 14.
"Mamata vehemently denied that the villagers had instigated the violence and walked out of the meeting."
CITU President Shyamal Chakraborty told newsmen later ''the (March 14) incident is not genocide. The concept of genocide is different.
''We have no objection to any kind of inquiry, be it by CID, or by CBI or a judicial inquiry. However, a CBI inquiry will have to be first cleared by the Calcutta High Court as it had stopped it,'' he said.
Denying that the meeting was a 'failure,' Chakraborty said it had not ended but was merely adjourned and another meeting would be held.
Asked whether the walk-out by Mamata Banerjee was pre-meditated, he did not give a direct reply, saying, ''I do not want to say anything that will jeopardise the peace process''.
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