Dankuni is different

Rajib Chatterjee
KOLKATA, Dec. 22: The CPI-M’s Hooghly district committee has asked its leaders to learn from the land acquisition problems in Nandigram and Singur and ensure that no trouble takes place during land acquisition for the proposed township and industrial hub at Dankuni. Real estate major DLF is set to build a township and industrial park at Dankuni on 4,840 acres. Opposition parties led by the Trinamul Congress have threatened to protest on the lines of Singur and Nandigram to oppose the project. In its secretarial reports, placed before the delegates who attended the CPI-M’s recently held district conference at Chanditola, the Hooghly district CPI-M leadership cautioned about possible disruptive activities by the Opposition, once the land acquisition process begins. The party found that lack of communication between people and local committee members at Singur was one of the reasons that led to the trouble there. In page 14 of the secretarial report (a copy of which is with The Statesman), the CPI-M states there was misunderstanding among party leaders in Singur during the land acquisition controversy. The Singur zonal committee was formed after the party’s previous zonal meeting “in an atmosphere of distrust”. The division in the party in Singur “widened” during the controversy and ultimately, the party district committee had to intervene to sort out the dispute. The party has asked its members to bridge the gap between the party and the people in the interest of the Dankuni township and industrial hub project. In page 18, the CPI-M states: “Neighbouring local committees ~ Chanditola, Singur, Rishra, Dakshin Rajyadharpur and Sheoraphuli ~ should act seriously to defeat forces opposing development in the state.” The party’s district leadership has instructed the delegates to organise their junior party colleagues and cadres to keep a close watch on anti-CPI-M forces hatching a conspiracy against the state government’s drive to set up industries in the district.Here, unlike Nandigram, CPI-M members have been instructed to maintain close ties with the people and make them aware of the necessity for industrialisation.During the party's district meeting, the CPI-M also sounded an alert, saying that Maoist insurgents are becoming active in certain pockets of the Hooghly district.