Fingers are being pointed at the Congress president for covert quid pro quo deal with the Left to ensure survival of the UPA government.
KOLKATA: Seldom heard in Congress politics, West Bengal Congressmen are training their guns on party supremo, Sonia Gandhi, fearing their political future in the state in the wake of Nandigram killings. Fingers are being pointed at the Congress president for covert quid pro quo deal with the Left to ensure survival of the UPA government and pushing ahead with the nuclear deal in exchange of Sonia and Centre’s silence on Nandigram. This is in sharp contrast to Sonia’s activism in Kalinagar in Orissa, state congress leaders are pointing out.
On January 2, 2006, 13 tribals were killed when police opened fire on hundreds who were protesting against land acquisition for mega steel projects in Kalinganagar. On January 11, Sonia Gandhi with Union home minister Shivraj Patil in tow landed in Kalinganagar, to show solidarity with the protestors and condemn the death of tribals.
She even announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for those who fell to police bullets. For for Nandigram, she is yet even to speak Congress high command’s muted response to Nandigram killings, despite numerous attempts to apprise Delhi by state level leaders like Sudip Bandopadhyay, Manas Bhuiyan and Subrata Mukherjee, is being seen by state leaders as clear pointers of a Congress-Left deal. Several of these leaders have seriously started to take a re-look at their own political future after Sonia’s inaction in Nandigram.
No central-level Congress leader or those in government have at any time during the last eleven months of orgy of violence has visited Nandigram. Not even after 14 were killed in police firing of March 14 or hundreds were murdered by CPI(M)’s private army over the past one week. Making it worse for state Congress leaders is the fact that Union minister for information and broadcasting in making a statement on Nandigram said, “Bengal Congress will have to launch a movement against the ruling Leftists on their own and not with one eye on Delhi.” External affairs minister, Pranab Mukherjee, Congress pointsman in the joint committee with left for nuclear deal, has been silent on Nandigram too.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamta Banerjee said, “A lot is being said about Nandigram being a gift to Congress for left support to nuclear deal. For the past several months, I have been writing to the home minister, the Prime Minister and the Congress president on Nandigram. But I have not got any response.”
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