Midnapore, Jan. 4: Bengal?s ruling communists would welcome foreign investment but only after ensuring that it did not clash with the interests of ?workers? or the people, Jyoti Basu said today.

Basu was on a day?s visit here for a three-day party conference that began today.

His comment comes a day after chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?s assertion at a party event that he would continue implementing the industrialisation programme, which is facing resistance from a section in the CPM.

?It is wrong to assume that there are differences of opinion in the CPM on industrialisation. Let me say, the party and the government are together in it. We are not against foreign investment in Bengal if it protects the interest of the working class,? the former chief minister said.

Basu admitted that the earlier Left Front government had made the mis- take of using gherao as a weapon in its trade union movement.

?After realising our mistake, we issued a statement making it clear that gherao is not a part of the trade union movement and has to be dispensed with,? he said.

?However, we cannot part with our right to strike,? he said.

Asked to compare his government with that of Bhattacharjee?s, an agitated Basu said: ?One cannot compare a three-year-old government with a 24-year-old one. But a lot of good work is being done these days. Investors are coming forward for the state?s industrial rejuvenation. Above all, the Rs 5000-crore Haldia petrochemical project has got off the ground.?