The Left Front on Wednesday gave the West Bengal Government a free hand to take on the Maoists in Lalgarh, though with the rider that the state will have to excercise caution and avoid a repeat of Nandigram. The Front also rubbished claims that the Lalgarh violence was public outrage and claimed the “unholy nexus” of the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists was behind the violence.

“We have taken a resolution and said that the state Government must do whatever it takes to safeguard the lives of people and civil liberties. It is for the state to take action,” said Left Front chairman Biman Bose after the Left Front meeting. But Forward Bloc state secretary Ashok Ghosh added that the Government should exercise restraint and caution.

“This is not public outrage. After the Lok Sabha elections the Trinamool Congress, their pre-poll allies and Maoists are spreading facist-style terror in various areas of Bengal. In some districts the Congress has joined them. They are trying to destroy the democratic atmosphere in Bengal,” added Bose. “Though the Opposition leader (read Mamata Banerjee) is talking about peace and non-violence, her ministers and parliamentarians are issuing threats to our leaders and supporters publicly.”

During the meeting Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee explained the situation in Lalgarh to the Front leaders, citing that over 100 highly-trained and 400 semi-trained Maoists were spreaheading the violence. Unlike in Nandigram, the Chief Minister asked for the Front leaders’ opinion on the course of action and the Left leaders unanimously backed action against the Maoists. According to sources, the CM stated that his Government’s primary objective would be to contain the Maoist activities in Lalgarh.