Kolkata: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s efforts to spark an industrial renaissance in Bengal were thwarted by the violent anti-land acquisition protests in Singur and Nandigram, eventually heralding the end of the Left era in Bengal and the rise of Mamata Banerjee.
Singur and Nandigram remained a baggage for him that he could never shake off. After stepping down from office, Bhattacharjee presented a document within the CPM stating that his govt’s policy of pursuing industrialization was correct.Acquiring land for industry was also a necessity of the time. He argued that the incidents in Singur and Nandigram were “exceptions” in this inevitable process. He acknowledged that there were some administrative and political mistakes in both cases and emphasized learning from these exceptions. Bhattacharjee firmly believed that industrialization should not be abandoned due to these exceptions.
Yet, even as he defended his policies, incident of villagers being shot dead in Nandigram deeply affected Buddhadeb. In a public meeting right after his loss, he pointed to himself and said that he was “responsible” for the incident. In a 2013 interview, Buddhadeb admitted the mistake of police firing in Nandigram and expressed regret.
As late as 2021, Bhattacharjee had claimed Singur and Nandigram were witnessing the “silence of a crematorium”. “The conspirators behind the ‘devious conspiracy at Singur and Nandigram are now divided in two groups and throwing muck at each other,’ he had said. “It was an irreparable damage to the state. Sometimes I wonder where I made the mistake. Was it land acquisition itself or was the process of land acquisition that was wrong? Was I too soft on the opposition? We will take lessons from that experience,” Bhattacharjee had stated.
Many in Singur and Nandigram acknowledge that he was quick to admit mistake but equally adamant in defending what he thought he had little role. “Bhattacharjee was very clear about Singur. I vividly remember his interaction with press in 2009. He had stated there was no question of apologizing for Singur and blamed TMC for the fiasco. But he was man enough to admit mistake on firing at Nandigram. This is because he could move beyond rigid ideology and wanted genuine change,” said Bikas Pakhira of Joymalla.
“He will be remembered as a tragic hero with the right intentions but the wrong methods. Salute to him,” former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh wrote in the X handle.
Abdur Rezzak Mollah, who was the minister for land and land reforms in the Left Front govt from 1977 to 2011 before he got expelled leading to him joining the Trinamool had claimed that “there was no socio-economic impact-assessment by CPM in Singur and Nandigram before the govt decided on land acquisition.” He added that the top leadership of the CPM, including Bhattacharjee, were “cut off” from the ground reality. “The party had succumbed to a neo-liberal orientation foisted from the top,” Mollah had assessed.
(With inputs from Falguni Banerjee in Singur and Suman Mondal in Nandigram)