?Cannot leave Bengal to an irresponsible party?: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday breathed fire as he retracted any ?implied uncertainty? about returning to power in the 2011 state elections.

Amidst a spree of recent electoral setbacks, Bhattacharjee?s words, ?…if we return to power…?, at an event on Sunday exploded in the day?s news as an indication of uncertainty over the Left Front government?s rebound.

?We are not going anywhere. We cannot leave Bengal in the hands of an irresponsible, agenda-less, anti-industrialist, undisciplined party,? said the chief minister, taking a heavy blow at the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).

?I along with my colleagues will be right here. We cannot betray the trust of the people of the state,? he added.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the new headquarters of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation at Camac Street in Kolkata on Monday morning.

Commenting on the ?recent negative events? in West Bengal, Bhattacharjee also thrashed the TMC for creating setbacks for the state?s industrialisation

He said, ?In Singur, all we wanted was to take the state?s automobile sector leaps ahead. It would create jobs for the thousands of young people of our state who are passing out of engineering colleges, polytechnics, every year.?

?And the compensation we had announced for the farmers of Singur was unheard of in our country. 80 to 90 per cent of the farmers were willing to give up their land for the sake of the state?s progress. Were they wrong?? he said.

?Due to the misdoings of a few people, the state lost such a huge opportunity for progress,? he said.

The chief minister also said that since Singur, the government had acquired some 6,500 acres of land from farmers for setting of industries and they had ?welcomed the proposals with open arms?.

?From our experiences with Singur we learnt a few things,? he said.

?We think that there is a need for a total overhaul of the country?s land acquisition law from the centre. An 1894 Act won?t work. ? Bhattacharjee said.