Calcutta, Aug. 5: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has for the first time spoken about the possibility of the Centre “dragging its feet” on Bengal projects, warning that such retribution would harm the country.

“If the Centre now drags its feet over these projects, let them do harm to the country’s interests,” the chief minister told a party event this evening, referring to the deep-sea port and a new airport for Calcutta.

The deep-sea port is crucial for drawing big-ticket investors to Bengal. But ever since relations between the Left and the UPA government soured over the nuclear deal, there have been fears that the Centre would not show eagerness to cut the red tape around the project.

Speaking out for the first time since the Left withdrew support to the Centre, the chief minister asked: “Are these the demands of the state only? Will it not help the entire region and the country as a whole? Did not the Prime Minister himself announce his Look East policy?”

Bhattacharjee sought to downplay suggestions that the Left’s pullout would harm the state’s interests. “Some of our advisers are arguing that we harmed the state’s interests by withdrawing support (to the UPA). We didn’t give priority to the state’s narrow interests when it came to considering national interests,” he said.

“We are not running a government at the mercy of the Congress or the Centre. Both the Centre and the state government are elected governments. We came to power defeating the Congress. We expect relations with the Centre in tune with the democratic and federal structure of the country. So why does the question of harming the state’s interest arise?” he asked.

Referring to the nuclear deal with America, Bhattacharjee called the Manmohan Singh government a “betrayer”.

“The government betrayed national interests by moving ahead with the nuclear deal, part of its plan to be the strategic partner of the US,” the chief minister said.

Today, CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu, who till now had been silent on the Left pullout, endorsed the withdrawal in a statement read out by state CPM secretary Biman Bose.

“We withdrew our support and voted against the government in the trust vote in Parliament as it was not possible to accept the UPA government’s pro-US policy at the cost of national interests,’’ Bose quoted Basu as saying.