Red faces in Left over Buddha remark on bandhs

In Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Chief Minister and Bhattacharjee’s party colleague V S Achuthanandan said, “I don’t think he had expressed such an opinion. If he had said so, then it is wrong.”

Some time ago, a similar remark by young Kerala MP A P Abdullakutty had invited the wrath of the state CPI(M) which had publicly censured him for violating the party line. The MP from Kannur, the CPI(M)’s stronghold in Kerala, had said that the bandh as a protest mode had lost its edge and had only alienated people. His comments stem from the fact that Left-ruled Kerala saw as many as 80 shutdowns this year, called by different parties for varied reasons.

His reasoning was also similar to that of the West Bengal Chief Minister — frequent bandhs have made Kerala a pariah state for investors. What also went against Abdullakutty was his allegiance to V S Achuthanandan in the fight within the party, controlled by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.

Party sources said Bhattacharjee may issue a clarification to clear the confusion. “He did not mean to say what he said. That is our feeling. He will clarify it soon,” said a senior CPI(M) leader.

CPI(M) MP Mohd Salim said “party leaders and trade union leaders will comment”.

While the CPI(M) top brass maintained a studied silence, its allies CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc attacked Bhattacharjee. “What he said is one-sided. Had trade unions been an impediment in industrialisation, no industry would have come up in Japan and Europe where trade unions are strong. Strikes are the last resort of workers to register their protest against repressive measures of the management and to resist violation of labour laws,” said CPI leader and AITUC general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta.

Similar views were expressed by RSP’s Abani Roy and Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas. “He became the CM because he is in the party. His party should ask him why he said this,” said Roy.

Biswas questioned the...