Jyoti Basu suggests CM solutions on book fair issue

Kolkata, Jan 26 (UNI) Veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu today termed the present controversies and legal tangles surrounding the future of the 23rd Kolkata Book Fair on Maidan as 'strange'.

Speaking to newspersons after attending the party's weekly state Secretariat meeting here, the former Chief Minister said he was surprised over the Calcutta High Court's observation yesterday restraining the Publishers and Booksellers' Guild, the organisers of Kolkata Book Fair, from making any preparations for the book fair until further orders.

''I have already talked to the Chief Minister (Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee) on the issue and suggested him to consult the lawyers to find an amicable solution,'' the senior Polit Bureau member said.

However, he sounded optimistic about the possibility of holding the Fair as per schedule after removing all controversies and following a favourable judgement from the High Court.

A similar view was also expressed by city Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya, who himself is a noted lawyer.

After a meeting with the Chief Minister at the state CPI(M) headquarters, he said despite yesterday's observation by the HC, he was very hopeful that the acting Chief Justice would pass the judgement on next Monday in favour of the Kolkata Book Fair in Maidan.

Meanwhile, in a sudden development and close on the heels of state Transport and Sports minister Subhas Chakraborty's statement of brining in lakhs of book lovers to the Maidan for three hours of book reading session everyday from next week in case of the High Court's preventive order, the employees of all decorators who were forced to suspend their work at the ground yesterday had decided to go for an indefinite hunger strike in protest.

Last year more than two million people visited the Fair and this year more than 800 publishers from around the world are expected to participate.

UNI