Front will get two-thirds majority : Bhattacharjee

Kolkata, Apr 12 (UNI) West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the opposition in the state was in doldrums and the ruling Left Front was targeting a two-thirds majority in the coming Assembly elections.

''My party should get majority on its own. But my primary concern is to achieve the goal of two-thirds majority for the Left Front,'' he told reporters at a meet-the-press programme, organised by Kolkata Press Club.

In reply to a question, he said the disunity among the opposition parties was because of the success of the coalition Left Front in several fields and in running the Government in a positive manner.

''They are in a doldrums because of our success. We are getting feedback from a cross-section of people that our support in the rural areas has increased and the urban people have started realising that we are doing something. There is a possibility for us to get more seats this time,'' he said without specifying any number.

Refusing that he would like to see an Assembly without opposition, Mr.Bhattacharjee said it was not desirable in a democratic set-up that any Government should run the show without any opposition, rather it was the constructive criticism of the opposition which helped a Government to perform better.

In reply to a question, the Chief Minister said his main grievance against the Trinamool Congress was that it had invited the BJP and RSS in the state. ''The BJP was defeated in the last Lok Sabha elections because it posed a threat to the country's unity and integrity. But the Trinamool has struck a nexus with the BJP to usher it in our state,'' he said.

Having admitted that there were 4,000 poorest of the poor villages in the state and 23 per cent people still living below the poverty line, the Chief Minister said the prime concentration of the Left Front Government, if voted back to power, would be to hasten improvement in these areas.

He said the state had produced 17 million tonnes of paddy last year and achieved alround development in agricultural, including horticulture and the domestic market of the traditional tea industry was in a good position.

While at present only four or five of the total 59 jute manufacturing units were closed, the state had witnessed setting up of a large number of agro-based industries over the past few years, he said adding that a flourish in IT sector which recorded highest growth among all states of the country.

The Chief Minister said his Government did not support the 'hire and fire' policy in industry but it emphasised on a harmonious relation between the employer and employee for quality production.

In reply to another question, Mr Bhattacharjee said according to the Union Home Ministry, the law and order situation in the state was the best in the country, though there were instances of laxity of police in some cases.

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