Baruipur (WB), Jan 28: Slamming the industrial policy of the TMC government in West Bengal, CPI-M Politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said it would have been better if the incidents at Nandigram and Singur could have been avoided during the erstwhile LF regime.
“Yes it would have been better if problems in Nandigram and Singur could have been averted,” the former chief minister conceded during a Left Front rally here.
“But will the state run backwards because of the two incidents? We (erstwhile LF government) did't allow it ... In other areas of the state we had set up industries and that too without any problem,” Bhattacharjee said criticising the TMC government for not pursuing any proper land policy.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after coming to power had decided that state government would not forcibly acquire land for industry in the state.
It was due to the lack of a proper land policy no industry had come up in the state since May 2011 when the LF bowed out of power, he claimed and blamed the TMC government for ‘driving away' industry from the state.
“What is their(TMC government's) industrial policy? Most of the investors are apprehensive about investing in the state. Infosys, Wipro are not coming. The future of steel plant at Salboni, which was inaugurated during our regime, is under a big question mark,” he said.
Accusing Banerjee of spending public funds on self propaganda, he criticised her for making false promises of providing 10 lakh jobs in last two years.
Bhattacharjee questioned the chief minister's claim that 10 lakhs jobs had been created. “Where are those jobs, who got them? I know that no Left supporter has got a job but have the Trinamool Congress supporters? No they too have not got a job - because it is a big lie.
“During her (Banerjee's) tenure as railway minister she had said that 13 factories of the Railways have come up in the state. Where are those factories? Has anybody seen them?” he asked.
Lambasting Banerjee for spending public money ‘unethically' on self propaganda, he said 10 feet long posters of her are seen. “From where are the funds for these coming? It is public money used unethically for self propaganda.”
The TMC government, he said, is more interested in organising fairs instead of improving the industrial sector. “It is a total misuse of public money when the government itself is saying that there is financial problem in the state,” he said.
He criticised the ‘insensitive and lethargic attitude' of the government in tackling the rising incidents of violence against women in the state, besides the move to appoint several ministers and parliamentary secretaries in the state government.
“What is the job of these ministers? They only take salaries and roam around in government cars. They don't have any work to do,” he added.
