The chairman of the Left Front in West Bengal, and state CPI (M) general secretary, Biman Bose on Wednesday made it clear that Bengal is not likely to follow the footsteps of Kerala in banning cola drinks.

He said the CPI (M) viewpoint had been accepted at a meeting of the Left Front in Kolkata.

Soft drinks, hard truths

Two constituents of Left Front in West Bengal, CPI and RSP, had demanded at the Left Front meeting that the government should deal strongly with the soft drink manufacturers like what Kerala government did last week.

Delhi's Centre for Science and Environment in its report alleged that the pesticide residues in colas were much more than permissible levels and the highest contamination was in Bengal.

Bose said the first round of tests conducted by the health department of the state government last week had not found pesticides in colas sold in the state.

"The state has not found anything harmful in soft drinks being sold in Kolkata, but second round of tests will follow though Bengal is not Kerala," he said.

After the meeting, the Left trade union CITU announced that it would call a general strike on December 14 and would conduct a public protest against the divestment of public sector units in Kolkata on December 3.

The state CITU president, Shyamal Chakravarty, said no decision had been taken on whether information technology companies would be kept outside the purview of the general strike or not.

"CITU will take a final decision in this regard two days before the strike," he added.