Congress plans prolonged bandh in north Bengal

kolkata: demanding overall development of north bengal, the pradesh congress has decided to launch a prolonged agitation including a continuous bandh if other forms of agitation fail. “though we are not in favour of sudden bandhs, we may have to resort to it. our bandh in north bengal will not be for one day but over a period of time. the pcc president has already included a north bengal agitation in the party’s political programme,� pcc general secretary kumud bhattacharya told the times of india.bhattacharya, spearheading the movement to highlight north bengal’s plight, said that for starters his party would be holding meetings in front of the sdo’s office at siliguri on february 22, demanding development of the region’s six districts. this would be followed by a joint convention of congress leaders from the six districts at islampur on march 16 to endorse the party programme and mobilise public opinion culminating in the bandh. the pcc has identified a number of issues that has not been addressed. “people of north bengal feel neglected as the state government’s development initiatives remain confined to the south of farakka,� said bhattacharya. the result? a spurt of divisive movements like the uttarakhand, gorkhaland and kamtapur. the never-ending teesta project is another issue the congress would highlight. bhattacharya alleged that though the project was conceived in 1976 at a cost of rs 90 crore, not even 25 per cent of the work was complete. the guard-walls and the embankments are falling off even though rs 1,200 crore have been spent. “the teesta project would have enabled multiple cropping in north bengal and changed the face of the region,� claimed bhattacharya. other issues the congress would focus on are the cannibalisation of agricultural land by tea gardens, giving rise to a new class of landless in the region. bhattacharya scoffed at the cm’s recent spree of foundation-stone laying ceremonies for industrial units in cooch behar, saying, “cooch behar has the worst power situation. industries cannot be set up here without power.� the congress would also press for an engineering college having courses in agro-based industries in north bengal.