In a sharp deviation from his party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday described gheraos, the practice of disrupting work by intimidating managements, as "illegal and immoral" and said he was opposed to bandhs, or full-scale closure of state services.
"Gherao is completely illegal and immoral - it will not be allowed in this state. It is our contribution to the English language," he said at a meeting organised by Assocham.
"I am also against bandhs, but unfortunately I belong to a political party that calls bandhs. Then I had to keep quiet but from now on I will not keep quiet," he added.
Last week CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and some state leaders had said in Kolkata that they supported bandhs, the last of which was enforced on August 20 by the Left trade union Centre for Indian Trade Unions against price rise, privatisation and to retain workers' rights to stage general strikes.
Responding to queries on economic reforms and the dichotomy between the Left in Bengal and the Centre, Bhattacharjee said, "We are discussing and debating among ourselves and my colleagues in Delhi are also changing. The old dogmas will have to change."
Bhattacharjee also announced that the government would not return any land to farmers who had not accepted compensation after the state acquired the land for the Tata Motors car plant at Singur, an hour from Kolkata, despite protests and demonstrations by the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee.
This marked a position that is expected to lead to an escalation of disturbances over the Singur land issue, with Banerjee resolving to extend her protests to other parts of the state.
Bhattacharjee said discussions with the opposition have been on since the morning to open a stretch of expressway skirting Singur that protestors have blocked.
Meanwhile, work at the Tata Motors factory continued to be affected on the third day of the indefinite siege. Although 80 to 85 per cent of Tata Motors' executives reported for work, only 20 per cent of the contract labour turned up.
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