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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on Thursday expressed concern over the growing ties between the Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation and the United Liberation Front of Asom.
KLO is spearheading a movement seeking independence for Kamtapuri region in north Bengal. Bhattacharya alleged that the KLO and the ULFA run joint training camps in Bhutan and added that the Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence is providing moral and material support to the two separatist organisations.
Speaking at his first press conference in the capital after leading the Left Front to a resounding victory in West Bengal, Bhattacharya said the KLO-ULFA-ISI axis poses a serious threat to the state's security.
"I have spoken to Union Home Minister L K Advani. Since this involves a neighbouring country, the state government alone cannot initiate action. I have given him the details of the training camps," he said.
Bhattacharya said he has asked for 34 additional companies of Border Security Force as eight of West Bengal's 17 districts share their border with Bangladesh. "This has become necessary after the incident in Meghalaya," he said.
Bhattacharya refused to answer questions regarding Mamata Banerjee and her complaints of rigging in the West Bengal polls. "She is a free citizen of this country and she can go anywhere and express her views," he said.
Expressing opposition to the process of privatisation of public sector units, he criticised the Union government for not consulting state governments on its divestment programme.
"We are opposed to any policy which is against the workers' interests. We have 59 public sector undertakings in West Bengal and we will try to revive the sick ones. We are particularly opposed to privatisation of banks and the life insurance and telecommunication sectors," he said.
When asked how would he compare his style of functioning to that of his predecessor Jyoti Basu, he said: "Yes, there is a difference. Joyti dada is a stalwart, I am a small fry. There is bound to be a difference between how I work and how he worked. I am trying to concentrate on West Bengal, while Jyoti Basu concentrated on national issues."
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