West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today admitted that Nandigram was an “administrative and political failure” and regretted his remark that those opposing land acquisition there had been “paid back in the same coin”.

“We have failed in Nandigram. It was an administrative and political failure. We have learnt lessons from Nandigram that we have to take people into confidence. We have to ensure that Nandigram does not repeat itself,” he told a press conference here.

Asked about his remark after the “recapture” of Nandigram that those opposed to the CPM and land acquisition had been “paid back in the same coin”, he said: “I should not have said that because I want peace for all sections. Some people were evicted by Trinamool Congress and some by CPM. But I want peace for all.”

He said he had no immediate plans to visit Nandigram as “political speech will not help the situation at the moment.”

To a question whether Nandigram had affected the process of industrialisation in the state, he said: “Nandigram or no Nandigram, the process of industrialisation in West Bengal cannot be stopped.”

He said no corporate house, business group or foreign company had said they would withdraw from the state. “In fact, major foreign companies from Japan, US, Singapore and Dubai have sent proposals” to invest in the state.

On the chemical hub which was supposed to have come up at Nandigram, Bhattacharjee said it was now being set up at Nayachar which did not have any habitation nor arable land.

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