Ministers protest Bhattacharjee's broadside against Dalmiya

Kolkata, Aug 1 (UNI) In a show of growing rift in the Ministry over Dalmiya issue, at least four West Bengal Ministers today sided with the CAB president and criticised Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for 'politicising' sports.

'' Nobody has the right to say a democratically elected person will be thrown out of an organisation. It is not justified, '' Sports Minister Subhash Chakraborty opined.

Adding further embarrassment to the ruling Left Front, Water Investigation Minister Nandagopal Bhattacharya, PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami and Co-operation Minister Rabin Ghosh also openly expressed their disapproval of the Chief Minister's diatribe against Mr Dalmiya.

Continuing his shadow war with the Chief Minister on the CAB issue, Mr Chakraborty said he knew Mr Dalmiya for many years and to him he was nothing but a perfect gentleman in all respects. '' Through my long association with Mr Dalmiya, he never appeared to me either as a dacoit or god, '' he stated.

In an unprecedented outburst yesterday, the Chief Minister had described Mr Dalmiya's victory as CAB president as the '' triumph of evil over good and injustice over justice, '' alleging that the CAB chief had 'vested interests' and he vowed to continue his 'war' seeking the ouster of Mr Dalmiya from the sports body in the 'interest of Bengal cricket'.

However, Mr Chakraborty said he was not a party to any such war and what he knew was that '' since Mr Dalmiya has been elected in a perfectly democratic manner, he is going to hold that post for the next one year. '' Expressing reservation against the Chief Minister's tirade against Mr Dalmiya following the defeat of Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, the Sports Minister said, '' I would have accepted such defeat sportingly and refrained from making any statement. Since the CAB is a self-sufficient agency and does not require any fund from the state government we should not interfere into its day-to-day affairs. '' Yesterday, CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu, the mentor of the Sports Minister, made public the first reaction against the Chief Minister's angry statement, saying the party should have no role to play in CAB politics.

Observing that Mr Bhattacharjee had done the wrong by speaking up without consulting the party, Mr Basu asked CPI(M) state Secretary Biman Basu to take up the issue for discussion at the party's weekly state secretariat meeting on Friday.

Speaking to a news channel, Water Investigation Minister Nandagopal Bhattacharya said sports would face a disaster if politics crept into it.

''I do not believe that it is democratic only when I win an election and it is not when another person wins,'' he said opposing the Chief Minister's war cry against Mr Dalmiya, elected as CAB president for the 15th time in a keenly contested election.

Observing that ''this should not have happened,'' Mr Bhattacharya said the CAB election was held democratically and any opposition to Mr Dalmiya for amassing money out of the Bantala leather complex should have come earlier.

''Dalmiya bought land for the leather complex from the State Government at throwaway prices and sold at a premium which our party opposed. How he can turn into a bad person to those who then considered him to be good,'' he asked.

Incidentally, Mr Dalmiya was entrusted with developing the Bantala leather complex under the Chief Ministership of Mr Jyoti Basu, who came out with the first reaction against Mr Bhattacharjee's broadside.

Mr Bhattacharya pointed out that the Left Front had decided not to get involved in the CAB politics and what either the Chief Minister or other Ministers had said were there personal views.

Questioning the propriety of the Chief Minister's outburst, PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami said nothing should be said against the result of an election which was held democratically.

''I do not know how the question of evil and good arises. The election in CAB was held democratically,'' he said.

Co-operation Minister Rabin Ghosh also wondered how the result of CAB election can be put under question when it is based on the people's vote.

''It is not proper to raise the issue of evil or holy after a properly held election. Do we accept when the Trinamool Congress alleges after every election that we have won through rigging.

People have cast votes and Mr Dalmiya has won...there is nothing else to say,'' he said.

Meanwhile, observing that the Dalmiya episode had damaged the image of the Left Front, CPI State Secretary Manju Kumar Majumder said, ''The Chief Minister should not have fielded the Police Commissioner as his candidate in the CAB election.'' ''The Government has many more jobs to do. We will discuss the matter in the Left Front, '' he said.

UNI KDG-ABA-AKM SJC DH GC2106