Calcutta, June 24: The CPM’s elevation of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy to its pantheon of icons has met with scepticism from its allies and the Congress, who today cited differences between his industry policies and those of the current chief minister.

The Marxists, in the dock over Nandigram and Singur, yesterday declared July 1, the birthday of the late Congress chief minister and one-time adversary, as Peace Day to court Opposition cooperation for their industrialisation drive.

The strategy is centred on the calculation that an appeal in the name of Roy — a legend to both the Congress and the Trinamul Congress — would persuade the Opposition to scale down its resistance to farmland take-over for industry.

But the Congress argued that Roy’s projects never hit farmers. And Left Front allies said the state’s second chief minister, unlike Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, never sought big private money to build the townships and public sector industries that marked his tenure between 1948 and 1962.

“Dr Roy’s industry policies were guided not by hasty decisions but by long-term plans. His projects didn’t affect farmers. The Left, which practised destructive politics during his tenure, is now trying to usurp his legacy,” state Congress working president Pradip Bhattacharya said.

The charge of political opportunism was also made by Mamata Banerjee who had asked last night why the CPM needed to “encash” Roy’s name after so many years.

Ashok Ghosh, secretary of CPM ally Forward Bloc, was sarcastic: “It’s good that the CPM has decided to honour Dr Roy. But our party has nothing to do with it.’’

He recalled going to jail during Roy’s tenure by agitating for rehabilitation of Durgapur land-losers, but seemed to agree with Bhattacharya.

“The Durgapur township came up largely on jungle tracks,” he said. “The population pressure on land was much lower at that time and land was less productive, too.”

To RSP and CPI leaders, the CPM’s eulogies to Roy’s role in industrialisation smacked of “political convenience”. “They are suppressing the fact that Dr Roy had set up public sector industries under the Nehruvian model and did not seek investment from the Salims,’’ a RSP central committee leader said.

The allies cited how CPM veteran Jyoti Basu’s memoirs mention his personal relations with Roy — who happened to be a friend of his father — but is largely silent on the industry projects in Durgapur, Asansol and Kalyani.

Basu, seen as the brain behind the Peace Day move, had yesterday said the communists had cooperated with Roy’s industrialisation drive and appealed to the Opposition to return the favour.