West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s comment on Monday that “we just cannot avoid nuclear power” has upset hardliners in his party.
NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s comment on Monday that “we just cannot avoid nuclear power” has upset hardliners in his party, the CPI(M), and other Left constituents, who have been threatening to pull down the UPA government if it signs the nuclear deal.
The Left cannot be blamed for its reaction to Buddha’s statement as it came a day after villagers of Bankura — a CPI(M) stronghold — stormed an anti-nuclear meeting called by the party and beat up its leaders on Sunday. The protesters were demanding rice instead of “nuclear power” which they had no use of.
Sunday's incident, however, did not come as a surprise for Bhattacharjee and his cabinet colleagues. But it certainly caught CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat unawares.
Party sources said a few days ago, senior leaders from Bengal had cautioned Karat that the nuclear issue was not something the common man could associate with and that it should not be the sole reason why the Left decides to withdraw support to the UPA government.
Party insiders, however, are not too optimistic about the Bengal lobby being able to rein in Karat. Even after West Bengal transport minister Subhash Chakraborty went on record saying that “it is idiotic to pull down the government”, Karat persisted with his anti-UPA, anti-nuclear rhetoric.
In fact, after the politburo meeting on August 17 and the subsequent central committee meeting which endorsed his stand, he intensified the campaign against the deal.
He has majority support in the 15-member politburo and the 80-odd member central committee. Besides, smaller parties such as the RSP, the Forward Bloc and the CPI have also adopted a hardline posture on the nuclear deal, thus strengthening Karat’s stand.
RSP leader Abani Roy and CPI’s Raja said Buddha’s comments were not in consonance with the Left line. With the suspension of the Kerala chief minister and the state secretary, the strength of the politburo is 13. Of them, eight are backing Karat.
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