'We do not support recapture of Nandigram at gunpoint'

Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal PWD minister and RSP leader Khiti Goswami, who has threatened to quit the ministry over the violence in Nandigram, on Tuesday said his party cannot support the recapture of the trouble-torn village forcibly.

"We cannot support capture of territory at gunpoint which resulted in a bloodshed in Nandigram," he said, adding instead there should have been efforts to convince the people there.

He, however, said that the CPI(M) was "realistic". "Public memory is short. Opposition parties in the state are ineffective. CPI(M) knows how to tackle the situation. They are realistic."

Accusing the CPI(M) of taking unilateral decisions on various issues, including Nandigram, he said "We (the allies) are just showpieces. What one party says, it does. Not only on Nandigram, the CPI(M) has taken unilateral decision on other issues too. The Left Front is in disarray."

Meanwhile, the RSP has called an emergency secretariat meeting today to discuss Goswami and party minister Monohar Tirkey's desire to resign from the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government over the Nandigram issue.