Nandigram caused irreparable damage to Left movement:Bloc

Kolkata, Mar 20 (UNI) Observing that the Nandigram police firing had caused 'irreperable damage' to the Left movement in the country, Left Front constituent Forward Bloc today urged the West Bengal Government to correct its policy approach on the basis of the ''anguish'' expressed by the civil society.

Flaying the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government for the ''impatient and high-handed'' action, the party urged it to learn lessons from the Nandigram episode and maintain a collective and cohesive leadership.

'' We do admit that the Nandigram incident caused irreparable damage to Left and progressive movement in the country. It has spoiled the hard-earned pro-people popular image of the West Bengal Left Front Government, which was model to all, '' Forward Bloc General Secretary Debabrata Biswas today said.

The party's Central Committee, which met for three days in Kolkata from March 17 to 19, also condemned the incident, saying in a democratic set up it could not be justified.

'' The incident is the result of deviation from the principle of joint leadership in the Left Front. The Government must now try to repair the damage and take into account the anguish expressed by the intelligentsia and the common people, '' he said.

The Forward Bloc General Secretary demanded that the Left Front must go transparent on all industrial projects and make the people understand the benefits in consultation with the partners.

Admitting that 30 years of power ''made us too proud'', Mr Biswas made an oblique reference to the CPI(M), alleging that tail was wagging the dog'' and not the other way round in running the Government.

To a question, Forward Bloc National Council Secretariat member and state Secretary Ashok Ghosh said the party would not allow the Government to acqure not even a single acre of land without discussion in the Left Front Committee meeting.

UNI