I'm to blame for police action: Buddha

Kolkata: Bowing to pressure from allies, the CPI-M led Left Front on Saturday decided to immediately stop land acquisition at Nandigram and withdraw the police from there in phases to defuse the tension after Wednesday's police firing.

The second round of crucial Front meeting also decided that the state government would be run strictly on the basis of policies decided at the LF meetings.

With this, the crisis in the three-decade-old Front over threats by partners like CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP threatening to pull out over police action at Nandigram, seemed to have blown over.

"We are happy that the crisis has ended temporarily. We are at one meeting point. We will have to watch the situation," senior RSP leader and PWD minister Kshiti Goswami said after the meeting.

"The Left Front is there and will continue to be there,” said LF Chairman Biman Bose.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPI-M patriarch Jyoti Basu, who played the role of a crisis-manager, were also present at the meeting.

Basu, who played a vital role, underlined the need for maintaining the unity of the Left Front saying it came into being after a long struggle.

"Nothing should be done which may harm the Front. There is also no alternative to the Left Front. Unity has to be maintained at all costs," the nonagenarian leader told the meeting.

The meeting also decided that the police in Nandigram would be withdrawn in phases. This was an important demand of the allies.

Faced with allegation from constituents that the LF government had turned into a CPI-M one, it was decided that the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government should work on major policies on the basis of decisions taken in the Front.

Apart from LF meetings, bilateral meetings with Front partners would also be held. The ministerial core committee would have to be made more strong, Bose said.

RSP leader Goswami, however, said if the Front and state government did not function the way it was decided at the day's meeting, "We will do further thinking on the entire decision. We will review the situation then. But we feel the decision not to acquire land at Nandigram for the chemical hub, is a major achievement," he said.

Although Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee expressed regret at the meeting over the police action and said he could not assess the situation, the Front only dubbed it as "unfortunate".

"It has to be ensured that such an incident did not recur," Bose said. CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc had demanded that the police action be condemned.

It was also decided that if any minister had any complaint against any Front constituent, he should write to the concerned partner, Bose said.

The decision came in the wake of LF partners airing their views in public.

Asked if the Chief Minister offered to resign at the meeting, Goswami said that he did not do so.

"The Chief Minister said he was sorry for the loss of lives and bloodshed and he thought it would be a smooth affair and could not assess the situation," Goswami said.

Meanwhile, Bhattacharjee said if the responsibility for the police firing at Nandigram was to be fixed on someone, it was he who had to take the blame.

"I am deeply distressed. If any responsibility has to be fixed, I as the Chief Minister has to be held responsible," Bhattacharjee told the Left Front meeting after allies, FB, CPI and RSP wanted the government to fix responsibility for the March 14 police firing that left 14 people dead in Nandigram.

A RSP leader who did not want to be named said that the Chief Minister, however, questioned whether his owning responsibility would be proper when a CBI investigation was on.

"A CBI inquiry is on. The truth will emerge. The question of fixing responsibility immediately will not be right," the Bhattacharjee said according to the RSP leader.

Not only administrative measures, but also political efforts should be made for the return of peace at Nandigram, Bhattacharjee said.

He however, warned that the situation was becoming complex. "L K Advani has gone to Nandigram. Others are also going. The situation is becoming complicated."

On the firing, the Chief Minister said he did not have correct assessment of the situation that it would escalate to such an extent. "We knew that there would be protests, but could not comprehend its scale."

He also agreed to the pullback of police forces from Nandigram in phases, one among the five demands of the allies.