Trinamool supporters give in to high command, return home

Trinamool supporters give in to high command, return home
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

CALCUTTA, NOV 23: Hundreds of irate Trinamool Congress supporters, who had been camping here for the last 15 days demanding protection after they were evicted from there homes in Midnapore and adjoining districts by alleged CPI(M) goons, have started going back to their homes, party sources said today.

``The first batch comprising those from Midnapore left today,'' party General Secretary Mukul Roy, who accompanied the group along with other senior leaders, including Chairman of the party policy-making body Pankaj Banerjee and MLA Shovon Dev Chattopadhyay, said.

Some 80 per cent of the 2,500 odd people camping here have left and the rest will be sent back in batches in a couple of days, he said. In a related development, some 500 Trinamool workers, including some senior leaders, today returned to the Congress in protest against party chief Mamata Banerjee's ``authoritarian rule''.

Welcoming them to the party fold, Congress leader Somen Mitra said that his party would continue its crusade against both the state government and the Central government.

Significantly, there was a near revolt among Trinamool supporters on the question of returning home. They had initially vowed to stay on if not given arms to defend themselves. But the leadership convinced them to return.

``We are afraid that the Marxists will not allow us to live in peace and we wanted arms,'' Mantu Ghosh, a farmer from Keshpur said. ``But the harvest season is round the corner and unless we are there the crops will be harvested by CPI(M) supporters. In that case we will have to starve for the rest of the year. So it's better we fight there instead of living in such miserable conditions here in Calcutta,'' he said.

Said Banerjee: ``We have assured them that we will always stand by them whenever they need our help.'' He said that party leaders would stay at the villages for a couple of days. ``We hope the Marxists will refrain from doing any harm to them. We will hold the administration responsible if they were harmed,'' he warned.

Meanwhile, the ruling CPI(M) has assured that the Trinamool supporters would be allowed to come back and live unassailed. ``We will take prompt action against any party member involved in violence,'' CPI(M) state committee Secretary Anil Biswas said.

``But we need definite complaints with names and addressees of erring members,'' he said.