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| | The CPI-M on Sunday admitted there were "problems" in West Bengal's ruling Left Front over the Nandigram incident but said all these issues had been resolved after talks with alliance partners. The party, which drew flak from partners CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc for "keeping them in the dark" on the issue, made it clear that it will conduct an "internal assessment" and a "self-critical analysis" into the episode. "There were problems and they have been resolved in the March 17 meeting," CPI-M Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat told Karan Thapar's "Devil's Advocate" programme, referring to a Left Front meeting held in Kolkata. Her comments came as the party's top decision-making bodies, the Polit Bureau and Central Committee deliberated the possible fallout of the Nandigram violence and its adverse impact on the CPI-M's image. Karat admitted there would be "ups and downs" in the relationship and underlined that the Left Front was "mature enough" to weather the crisis. "All issues were discussed and thrashed out at the March 17 meeting," she said. Against the backdrop of attacks on Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, she sought to defend him, saying "we work as a collective" and in such a situation "we don't want to pinpoint (things) on this individual or that". "The chief minister is the leader of a collective. We work in a collective and we have a collective responsibility. It is not a one-man government. Mistakes or achievements, everything is collective," she added. Fourteen people had died in police firing and violence on March 14 in Nandigram, which has seen protests against the acquisition of land for industry. Karat did not directly train her guns on anyone, but said, "If people will think it will help them by making public statements they can do so." She also parried questions on veteran CPI-M leader Jyoti Basu's comments against Bhattacharjee. She said the police firing that killed 14 people was "unfortunate" and refrained from making any comments on who was responsible for the situation, saying, "There was an inquiry into the incident." Karat also declined to reply to a question on Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi's comments on the police firing, saying "A CBI and a CID inquiry are on. Let wait for its outcome and I am sure they will answer the governor's questions. "We would not like to pre-empt the inquiry. I would like to wait for the investigations to get over and take it from there," she said. Karat denied allegations that the chief minister ordered police to go into Nandigram despite knowing they would face stiff resistance and the situation might go out of control. |
