Targeting Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjees convoy,the Maoists had triggered a landmine in Salboni near Jhargram on November 2,2008. Two-and-a-half years later,Bhattacharjee addressed a public meeting at Jhargram in West Midnapore on Tuesday his first since that blast. What made the rally significant was the fact that the CM not only admitted that there were discrepancies in the distribution of the APL and BPL cards but also that it was the Left Front governments decision to raise an army of CPM cadres to fight the Maoists. This was also the first time since the Netai massacre that Bhattacharjee accepted the presence of armed party cadres in the area. The Maoists have killed so many of our innocent people. They did not even spare school teachers,who were dragged out of their classrooms and killed in front of their students. We sent the police and Central security forces to combat them. But I realised that security forces alone cannot fight the Maoists. We need peoples resistance to tackle them. Hence,the Left Front government decided to encourage people to resist the Maoists. People came forward in large numbers; they put up a very strong resistance,forcing the Maoists to flee. Now,with many of their members killed or arrested,the Maoists are leaving Bengal and taking shelter in Jharkhand,Bihar and Orissa. We will not allow them to disturb our state anymore, Bhattacharjee told the crowd. Significantly,in December 2010,Bhattacharjee,in his reply to Union Home Minister P Chidambarams letters regarding armed CPM cadres,had stated that no such camp existed in Jungle Mahal. After the Netai incident in January,in which nine villagers were killed by armed CPM cadres,Bhattacharjee,in a statement in New Delhi,had said that his government was firm on disarming all armed groups. According to official sources,the Union Home Ministry had proposed to give licensed arms to the CPM cadres,so that they can operate under the police and with a legal identity. But the senior leadership of the CPM,including Bhattacharjee,shot down the proposal,claiming that the private army should be loyal to the party alone. Attacking the PCAPA,Bhattacharjee said,The PCAPA was responsible for the Jnaneswari Express sabotage. The Maoists under the garb of PCAPA are taking part in the elections,and the TMC is helping them. The TMC leaders are bringing Maoists to Bengal. Voting for the TMC means voting for the Maoists. Voting for the PCAPA means inviting trouble and a dangerous future. Regarding the PDS system,he said,The BPL and APL card system is marred by discrepancies. We have decided that after forming the government we will give rice at Rs 2 to the states poor. We will give land to the people of Jungle Mahal to build houses. We will issue health insurance for the poor so that they are able to get free medical treatment worth Rs 1 lakh.
