Presence of Mamata and Biman essential for all-party meet

Kolkata, May 16 (UNI) Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh today said the presence of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and Left Front Chairman Biman Basu was essential for the proposed all-party peace meeting on Nandigram.

" The presence of both Mamata, leader of the main Opposition party and Mr Biman Basu, the Left Front Committee Chairman has to be ensured. It is not possible to hold any all-party meeting without them, " he told reporters.

Mr Ghosh, who had been empowered by the ruling Left Front to mediate in the peace process for the embattled area in East Midnapore district, said he would also try to ensure that veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu attended the meeting "at least for some time." The remarks of the Forward Bloc leader came after Mr Basu, who is also the CPI(M) state Secretary, expressed his inability to be personally present at the proposed meeting if it was held on May 26.

Mr Basu is scheduled to take part in the party's Polit Bureau meeting, to be held in Delhi on May 25 and 26.

The Front Chairman, however, said representatives the CPI(M) would be present at the peace talks and the party would extend full cooperation in expediting the peace process.

The Forward Bloc leader contacted Ms Banerjee over phone yesterday and decided that both would meet face-to-face sometime this week to finalise the date, venue and the names of the likely participants.

Ms Banerjee, now in Delhi, will return to the city in a day or two.

" Yesterday I proposed May 26 as the possible date for the all-party talks during my telephonic conversation with Mamata. But since the CPI(M) has its Polit Bureau meeting on May 25 and 26, it will not be possible for call the meeting on the day we thought about, " he said.

The Forward Bloc veteran said while efforts would be made to find out a mutually convenient date, a proposal had been made for holding the meeting at Mahajati Sadan.

Meanwhile, a Left Front delegation from Nandigram met Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi at the Raj Bhavan to apprise him of the situation in the area.

The delegation told the Governor that many villagers, belonging to the ruling coalition had been evicted from home. The delegation also met Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the state secretariat. UNI