Biman Bose

Calcutta, Nov. 20: Biman Bose today advised Manmohan Singh to “behave like Prime Minister” and assured him not to worry about Nandigram but the CPM leadership appears to have decided to exercise restraint.

Told about the Prime Minister’s statement, the CPM state secretary was reluctant in the afternoon to comment, saying the central leadership will react.

However, the CPM’s central leaders, busy in the capital with backroom parleys on the Nandigram debate in Parliament, did not issue any statement contesting the Prime Minister’s remarks.

Bose, normally quick to return fire, too, did not make any reference to Singh’s comments while addressing a party rally at Birlapur in South 24-Parganas this evening.

The CPM state secretary broke his silence only when approached by journalists after the meeting. “The Prime Minister should not be worried. He should behave like Prime Minister,’’ Bose said.

State secretariat member Shyamal Chakraborty indicated that the CPM would exercise restraint as many party leaders felt that the Prime Minister’s statement reflected his “political compulsions” following pressure from a section of the Congress and the Opposition.

“Our party as well as the chief minister share the Prime Minister’s concerns. He was right in stressing on building people’s confidence. But it can’t be done overnight and it needs a conscious effort. Trinamul Congress-led forces are preventing people from leaving relief camps,” Chakraborty said.

Embarrassed by the presence of “new refugees” in Nandigram, Bose told the meeting that the “party would sever ties with those who try to intimidate people returning home”.

CPM veteran Benoy Konar urged party workers to close ranks against a “huge conspiracy to malign us and our government as it had happened during the 1962 China war”. He criticised the governor, “so-called intellectuals” and the high court ruling on Nandigram.

Trinamul leader Mamata Banerjee said she had heard about the Prime Minister’s statement. “I shall make a comment tomorrow after carefully studying it,” she said.