CPM no to Joint Parliamentary group to Nandigram
New
Delhi,
Mar
16:
The
CPI
(M)
today
said
the
BJP's
demand
for
sending
a
Joint
Parliamentary
delegation
to
Nandigram
would
vitiate
the
federal
framework
of
the
Constitution
and
Parliamentary
propriety.
''It
is
unfortunate
that
the
BJP
by
raising
the
demand
is
pursuing
its
political
agenda
which
will
have
serious
consequences
on
the
policy
and
Centre-
state
relations,''
said
party
Parliamentary
group
leader
Sitaram
Yehchury.
At
a
press
conference,
Mr
Yechury
said
BJP
Leader
of
the
Opposition
in
the
Rajya
Sabha
Jaswant
Singh
raised
the
demand
for
a
Joint
Parliamentary
delegation
to
Nandigram
today,
which
''was
not
only
unprecedented
but
also
an
unhealthy
practice.''
It
was
unfortunate
that
the
BJP
repeatedly
forced
adjournments
yesterday
of
both
the
Lok
Sabha
and
the
Rajya
Sabha,
Mr
Yechury
said
adding
that
the
Rajya
Sabha
was
adjourned
on
this
issue
today
also.
Mr
Yechury,
flanked
by
party
senior
leaders
Basudeb
Acharia
and
Mohammad
Salim,
replied
to
a
number
of
queries
relating
to
Nandigram
in
the
larger
perspective
of
''forcible
shift''
from
agrarian
economy
to
industrialisation,
the
use
of
''brutal
force''
against
the
farmers,
the
Left
partners'
disagreement
and
party
veteran
Jyoti
Basu's
caution
to
Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee
against
taking
''any
unilateral''
decisions.
Mr
Yechury
told
UNI
that
his
party
was
already
acting
upon
the
advice
of
Mr
Basu
as
it
had
been
telling
the
people
that
no
land
would
be
required
without
the
consent
of
the
farmers.
He
also
denied
that
the
All
party
Meeting
did
not
discuss
the
issue
of
sending
police
to
Nandigram
as
was
being
claimed
by
the
LDF
partners
--
the
Forward
Bloc
and
the
RSP.
The
Left
leaders
asserted
that
the
Nandigram
incident
or
the
Naxalites
armed
attack
on
police
post
in
Chhattisgarh
were
essentially
state
subjects
and
different
from
those
of
communal
violence
and
atrocities
on
Dalits.
''The
BJP's
demand
is
totally
unjustified
and
violative
of
the
spirit
of
federalism
and
the
constitution,''
Mr
Yechury
said
adding
that
since
1952
there
had
been
not
a
single
instance
when
a
Joint
Parliamentary
delegation
was
sent
on
an
issue
of
a
law
and
order.
Mr
Yechury
made
it
clear
that
his
party
was
not
''scared''
about
the
JPD
visiting
Nandigram.
''But
since
the
CBI
has
started
its
work
there
and
it
has
to
give
its
report
within
seven
days,
the
BJP's
hue
and
cry
and
disrupting
the
proceedings
of
the
House
is
not
rational.''
Replying
to
questions
relating
to
West
Bengal
governor's
criticism
of
the
police
firing,
Mr
Yechury
remarked
that
it
was
a
matter
of
constitutional
propriety
and
that
it
would
not
be
wise
for
him
to
comment.
''Let
him
(the
governor)
take
up
the
matter
with
the
state
government.''
On
the
death
of
farmers
in
Nandigram,
the
Left
leaders
said
''in
the
cross
firing
it
is
only
the
innocent
who
become
the
victims,''
while
adding
that
some
of
the
the
deceased
were
CPI(M)
cadres.
''The
armed
gangs
belonging
to
the
Trinamool
Congress
and
the
naxalites
and
the
Maoists
are
roaming
about
in
the
area.
They
have
virtually
laid
seige
to
the
area
and
have
hampered
the
normal
civic
life.
Our
first
priority
is
to
restore
law
and
order
there,''
they
said.
In
reply
to
a
question
on
how
the
Maoists
or
the
Naxalites
were
able
to
gain
ground
in
West
Bengal,
the
Left
leaders
said
this
was
not
confined
to
WB
only
and
was
a
national
phenomenon.
UNI