Late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was a good man in a bad party: Bengal CM
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday praised his predecessor, late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, describing him as “a good man in a bad party” while recalling the events surrounding the Nandigram movement of 2007.
The occasion was in relation to a programme at Gokulnagar in East Midnapore district to observe Martyrs’ Day to commemorate those killed or reported missing following clashes between the activists of CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress- led Land Eviction Prevention Committee on November 10, 2007, when Bhattacharjee was the West Bengal Chief Minister.
The clashes had erupted over the proposed land acquisition in Nandigram for a chemical hub project planned by the then Bhattacharjee-led government.
“After November 10, 2007, there was a bloody sunrise. I pay my respects to the then Chief Minister. I will not mention his name. He has passed away. He was very honest in his personal life. He was a very good person. But the party that he belonged to is bad,” CM Adhikari said, addressing the Martyrs’ Day program on Tuesday afternoon.
The Chief Minister also described how cordial his relationship is with Bhattacharjee’s widow, Mira Bhattacharjee. “A few days ago, she fell ill. I went to visit her,” the CM said.
Notably, Mira Bhattacharjee has in the past expressed appreciation for Adhikari’s industrialisation push and said she believed he could realise some of her late husband’s unfinished development goals for the state.
Referring to the aftermath of the 2007 violence, Adhikari also mentioned veteran CPI(M) leader Biman Bose, recalling his remarks at the time and reiterating his own commitment to the promises he had made during the Nandigram movement.
“Octogenarian Biman Bose is still alive. I pay my respects to him. But I will remind him that at that time he said that there had been a new sunrise in Nandigram. Nineteen years have passed since then. I am still committed to the promise that I made on that day,” CM Adhikari said.
Adhikari also predicted that the Trinamool Congress will not be relevant in West Bengal politics in the next 100 years.