JOIN US'Vedic' worries haunt CPM
A miffed chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who left for North Bengal skipping the crucial politburo meet in New Delhi citing ill health, was rumoured to have submitted his papers. This follows the land scam involving the Vedic Village promoter and the subsequent inability of the state government to provide land to Infosys and Wipro.
That a “sick” chief minister who could not attend the PB meeting, but could very much address party rallies in North Bengal, did raise eyebrows, rattling the state CPM leadership. The latter was compelled to rubbish the media reports on his resignation as mere gossip and figment of imagination.
The unceremonious manner in which the IT majors were shown the door was seen as a heavy indictment of Bhattacharjee, who just could not tolerate the alleged ill-doings within a section of the party regarding the manner in which the land was acquired at Rajarhat.
The arrest of Gaffar Molla, the land mafia don of Rajarhat, and his subsequent revelation to the police that he reportedly “knew” top leaders of the Marxist party and some in the Opposition Trinamool further left Bhattacharjee “distraught.”
Blame game
After the chief minister decided to even skip the CPM state secretariat meeting and extended his stay in North Bengal, the state party quickly blamed his absence on the pilot strike in Jet Airways.
But a firm denial by the airlines and its assertion that it could have organised tickets for the chief minister and his wife in any other airline had there been a request in this regard has called the bluff of the party and the administration.
Unable to placate Bhattacharjee, a “Mission Rescue” was launched and housing minister Goutam Deb came up with the proposal of saving the “exit” of Infosys and Wipro by providing each of them10 acres of land for setting up their units “vertically” close to the airport.
Media management
And contrary to the established practice of the CPM, the proposal was revealed to the media before the same was vetted by the chief minister himself. According to the sources, the aim was to send a message across to Bhattacharjee (who was “recuperating” in North Bengal ) that serious efforts had been mounted to salvage part of the botched-up project and save his image.
To rub salt to the CPM’s wounds, the Assam government on Saturday offered 200 acres of land near the Gopinath Bordoloi International airport off Guwahati to the IT majors for setting up shops there. Unless Bhattacharjee breaks his silence, it would be difficult for the party to salvage the project.