Ganamukti Parishad roots for ouster of CPM

Ganamukti Parishad roots for ouster of CPM
Intellectuals root for CPM ouster in rural polls
Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, April 15: A section of the state's intellectuals, under the banner of Ganamukti Parishad, today appealed to Opposition parties to set up one-to-one battles in the panchayat poll arena, so as to dethrone the CPI-M and free people of the state from “30 years of misrule”. The intellectuals warned that if the Opposition gave in to petty bickering among themselves and failed to defeat the CPI-M in the coming rural poll, the repercussion would be felt at the Centre, where the CPI-M would sit as “a representative of China”.

At a function to release the booklet called “Panchayat Polls May 2008: We need a one-to-one election”, Mr Debabrata Bandopadhyay, former secretary for the government of West Bengal, said the state government was an “illegal” one as it had not listened to the High Court ruling which named police officers and constables who were held responsible for the “illegal” firing on innocent villagers in Nandigram on 14 March 2007. “This government has not paid any heed to the HC ruling. The police personnel responsible for the 14 March bloodletting are walking free because they followed the party's orders. Can this government be called legal?” He gave a call for the dismissal of the CPI-M-led Left Front from power in the state. Writers and educationalists such as Mr Amlan Dutta, Mahaswheta Devi, Kabir Suman and Mr Sunanda Sanyal signed an appeal to Opposition parties to fight the CPI-M as a unit during the panchayat polls, due to be held in May.

They asked Opposition parties to pit one candidate who would be most likely to defeat the CPI-M candidate at the hustings, withdraw the other candidates and support the sole Opposition candidate.

Mr Sunanda Sanyal, president of Ganamukti Parishad, said: “Not only in Nandigram and Singur, the CPI-M is killing villagers in other villages of the state. They are continuing to threaten Opposition party candidates from standing for the panchayat poll. We ask Opposition parties to only pit one candidate against a CPI-M candidate ~ someone who has the highest chance of defeating the ruling party candidate. If they don't do this and resort to bickering among themselves instead, it only prove that the Opposition is actually supporting the CPI-M's win.”

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=22&theme=&usrsess=1&id=199632

Intellectuals in Kolkata want Opposition to unite against CPM
Express news service
Posted online: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 0112 hrs IST
Kolkata, April 15

A section of the city-based intellectuals today called for defeating the Left candidates in the forthcoming panchayat elections.
Under the banner of Gana Mukti Parishad, they said that Opposition parties should ensure one-to-one contest against the Left Front candidates to prevent division of anti-Left votes in the state.

Noted litterateur Mahasweta Devi, educationist Sunanda Sanyal and Amlan Dutta said that this was the right time to unite the Opposition parties.

They believe that the Left candidates can be defeated if the Opposition selects a single candidate in every seat in the three-tier panchayat polls.

Earlier, the intellectuals had organised protest rallies against the Left Front government on various issues like Nandigram, Singur and the unnatural death of Rizwanur Rehman.

After the March 14 police firing at Nandigram and “recapture” of villages there by the CPM workers in last November, intellectuals sharply criticised the role of the Left Front government of West Bengal as well as the CPM leadership.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Intellectuals-in-Kolkata-want-Opposition-to-unite-against-CPM/297418/