Trinamool to observe bandh tomorrow

Kolkata, Oct 8 (UNI) With a truncated support from the Congress, the Trinamool Congress today vowed to make tomorrow's statewide bandh a success even as the CPI(M) asked its cadres to take to the street for raising fund for relief to the flood affected people.

''We will make the bandh a success though CPI(M) is terrorising the people against it'', senior Trinamool Congress leader Ajit Panja said.

The Trinamool Congress has given a 12-hour bandh call in protest against acquisition of farmland at Singur for the Tata Motor's small car project.

The party took heart from the support extended by a section of state congress leaders including Mr Subrata Mukherjee and the simultaneous call for bandh by the SUCI and CPI-ML(Liberation).

Mr Mukherjee who was present at the press conference said the party was solidly behind the bandh call and the AICC had not given any direction to the state leadership not to support it.

However, Pradesh Congress working president Pradip Bhattacharjee said Mr Mukherjee had attended the Trinamool Congress press conference in his individual capacity and not as a party representative.

Though Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi and few other leaders had initially vouched support to the Trinamool-sponsored bandh the party refrained from committing itself to the Trinamool cause sensing and image problem in the face of CPI(M) campaign that the movement against the Tata project was aimed at scuttling the industrialisation move in the state.

Affirming that the party would stick to this campaign CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose said the bandh was against industry and the state development as a whole.

We have asked our party workers to come out to the street and collect fund for the flood affected people. We have state's interest in mind and some people have the interest of a particular party and an individual, he said in an obvious reference to Ms Mamata Banerjee.

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