What it means to be the Left in Bengal - Of Buddhadeb, nuclear power, agri-retail, and on “changing with the world”
The official Indian Left has perhaps reached a crescendo in its opposition to the US nuclear deal and its condemnation of American imperialism in places as far out as Iraq. May Day celebrations this year called for the usual condemnation of neoliberalism. Perhaps the rhetoric should be eased a bit - Bengal tells a different story! The Chief Minister had the following things to say at the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) meeting in Kolkata on September 17.
1. “Environmentalists opposing nuclear power as a viable option are beginning to sound like fundamentalists.”
2. “We should allow big retail companies like Spencers, Reliance and Wal-Mart in agro-retailing business.”
3. “CII should form a committee to go into details on what should be the government’s policy for land acquisition”
4. “We had committed serious mistakes in the sixties and seventies. The world is changing. We are also changing.”
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Can’t avoid nuclear power: Buddhadeb - An NDTV Report
September 17, 2007
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is generally more liberal on ideology. But he also walked a thin line on Monday on the nuclear deal and nuclear power.
So far he has been publicly firm on opposing the Indo-US deal. Media speculation began again after he said India should be ”cautious” on the deal and also came out in favour of nuclear power.
”And as far as I am concerned and from what I have read in papers and magazines you just can’t avoid nuclear power,” he said. As to whether nuclear power is a safe and economic alternative, he said, let scientists decide the issue and pointed out that environmentalists opposing nuclear power as a viable option are beginning to sound like ”fundamentalists”. Bhattacharya’s comment, made at a Confederation of Indian Industries meeting in Kolkata on Monday, comes at a time when the Left is furiously opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal. Though the Left are opposed to the Indo-US nuclear deal, they are not opposed to nuclear energy per se. ‘We need clean power in the background of the global warming problems that are threatening our civilisation.
Some people think, some scientists, that the only alternative is nuclear power. And what our honourable PM says that we have entered a nuclear renaissance. But we have some doubts not about the environmental problems but the cost of setting up the nuclear power plants about the price of nuclear electricity; all of this has to be properly evaluated. And scientists, planners and politicians must come together and discuss this. It’s more a technical opinion than a political one.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had invited Buddhadeb to a dinner date last month when the Left’s opposition to the nuclear deal was at his height. The Left has not really taken a stand on nuclear energy.
What they have said is that before going in for nuclear energy, the implications for going in for such a choice should be worked out vis-a-vis cost effectiveness, are other sources such as hydel, thermal power being utilised, what is impact on environment, in wake of Chernobyl disaster.
Buddha okay with Indian agro-retail biz
Kolkata, Sep 17 : West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said Indian companies interested in agro-retail should be allowed to set up outlets, albeit with some restrictions.
“We should allow big retail companies like Spencers, Reliance and Wal-Mart in agro-retailing business. I know Mittals have joined hands with Wal-Mart,” Bhattacharjee said at the national council meeting organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here Monday.
He said there should be certain restrictions in allowing these retail companies so that they cannot trade in food grains. “Big retail stores should not be set up within city limits as it would add to more congestion. In the US and other foreign countries, all big retail stores are situated outside city limits,” Bhattacharya said. Emphasising the importance of retail stores in the state, the chief minister said West Bengal produces about 11.6 metric tonnes of vegetables every year, of which 10-30 percent perish on the fields.
“The reason is we don’t have sufficient numbers of cold storages in our state,” he said. “If these retail stores come up, many people would get jobs. But at the same time, thousands of small vegetable vendors will be jobless. Thus, we should move very cautiously,” he added.
Last week, the chief minister said the state government had allowed Metro Cash and Carry to do their agriculture wholesale business in West Bengal on an experimental basis.
The Forward Bloc, one of the main constituents of the Left Front government, has been opposing agro-retail business, fearing it would harm farmers in the state. The Forward Bloc as well as the West Bengal State Marketing Board (WBSMB), an autonomous body under the ministry of state agricultural marketing, has objected to the entry of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance, apprehending its possible monopoly in the state’s agricultural retail business.
— IANS
CM seeks CII’s help on Nandigram - A TOI Report
KOLKATA, Sept 17: Faced with stiff opposition against land acquisition for industry at Singur and Nandigram, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday sought the help of the Confederation of India Industry (CII) in formulating a proper acquisition and rehabilitation policy for land losers.
”We need your help. CII should form a committee to go into details on what should be the government’s policy for land acquisition, the role of private investors and the rehabilitation policy. ”If you give your suggestions, our government will seriously examine it,” Bhattacharjee told captains of Indian industry at an interactive session here.
Bhattacharjee said that despite the opposition by a small group of farmers, work for Tata Motors’ small car project at Singur was on in full swing. “I just cannot roll back the Tata Project. I need this project for West Bengal. The Tata Motors’ small car will roll out in the middle of next year,” he said.
Bhattacharjee said that 90 per cent farmers supported the Tata project and a small section of’bargadars’ (share croppers) and small farmers were opposing it. ”But we cannot ignore them”, he said. The Chief Minister said his government had made mistakes at the political and administrative level on land acquisition. ”The opposition has successfully misled the people. Therefore we have decided not to go on in Nandigram,” he said.
We are changing with the world: Buddhadeb A Hindu Report
Kolkata, Sept. 17 (PTI): Admitting that his party had committed “serious mistakes” in the sixties and seventies, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the CPI-M was changing its attitude towards investment and foreign capital.
“The world is changing. We are also changing. If you follow our party literature you will see our attitude towards investment and foreign capital. Most of our party leaders in the state and Central Committee understand the changes taking place in the world,” Bhattacharjee, also a politburo member of CPI-M told the captains of Indian industry at an interactive session during the National Council meet of the CII here.
Flanked by Bharti group CMD Sunil Mittal and ICICI Bank MD and CEO K V Kamath, Bhattacharjee said, “Our mindset is changing for better. We are not fools. We are realists and the party is changing. Old people are going and new generation leaders are coming.”
Bhattacharjee also refered to the 1994 industrial policy of the state and said that had ushered in a change. Recalling his long association with the Communist party, Bhattacharjee said, “We had committed serious mistakes in the sixties and seventies. The word gherao is our contribution to the Oxford dictionary.”
To a question, Bhattacharjee said he would prefer to remain in the state. “Let me serve the state first,” he said when asked when he would take up responsibility at the national level.