Big Brother feels bandh bite

KOLKATA: Forward Bloc cadres on Wednesday went all out to embarrass Big Brother CPM during its daylong bandh against the police firing that killed six Bloc supporters in Dinhata.

The day saw no major flare-ups but was peppered with scenes that usually mark an Opposition-sponsored bandh. Bloc activists stormed government offices and squatted on railway tracks in a bid to make its bandh — which was reduced from 24 hours to 12 — successful. There were hardly any CPM men on the streets to foil the "spontaneous" reactions.

In Kolkata, transport minister Subhas Chakraborty said neither his party nor the government opposed the bandh on "tactical grounds". Though the day before he had promised more buses on the roads, he said on Wednesday, "The bandh has been called by an LF constituent. We ran some buses to maintain normality."

FB was in no mood to relent. Calling the Dinhata incident "a second Nandigram", FB state secretary Asok Ghosh said the Left Front government has to take lessons from such incidents. "Is this the way the Front should survive?" asked the veteran leader.

State co-operative minister Robin Ghosh showed the way early in the day. The septuagenarian sat on the railway tracks near Uluberia station with his supporters. Other FB supporters followed suit across the state, throwing train services out of gear. As many as 30 trains were cancelled and many more detained at various stations.

Ghosh wasn't the only FB leader to take to the streets. Barasat MLA Bithika Mandal stormed the office of the additional district magistrate (General) and forced the staff to vacate the building. FB men went berserk, overturning tables and other furniture before throwing out the few government officials who had turned up for work. Mandal then picketed the entrance with her supporters to stop anyone from entering. Former MLA Saral Deb was arrested for trying to enforce the bandh.

In Kolkata, the Metro functioned normally though the number of commuters fell to 30% of other weekdays. The bandh's impact was felt in areas like Esplanade, Ekbalpore, Kidderpore and Shyambazar — places where FB has a strong presence. Opposition parties supporting the bandh took to the streets at Kidderpore, Bhowanipore-Hazra crossing, Jorabagan and Howrah bridge.

FB supporters also blocked Diamond Harbour Road and forced bikers and cyclists to get off their vehicles and walk. Motorists, too, were stopped but the police presence ensure that no car or bus was damaged. The driver of a state-run bus was injured when bandh supporters pelted stones at the AJC Bose Road-Pretoria Street crossing. A sub-inspector, Prakash Ghosh, was thrashed by bandh supporters at Bowbazar. As many as 258 FB workers were arrested across the city.

In the districts, the FB supporters targeted many government offices. A bus was damaged by bandh supporters at Madhyamgram, while clashes were reported from Murshidabad and Birbhum. FB supporters came to blows with employees of the district land and land reforms office in Murshidabad. Trouble broke out when cadres tried to stop the DLLRO staff from entering office. In the ensuing melee, DLLRO employee Manabendra Dasgupta ended up with a fractured leg. Four others had to be hospitalised. Hundreds of FB supporters fought with police when they were stopped from entering the Birbhum Zilla Parishad office.