Tamluk, Nov. 22: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today asked the people of Trinamul citadel East Midnapore not to “surrender before the Opposition”, shedding the despondency that had crept into his public meeting in Calcutta last Monday.

“Kono abasthatei atmasamarpan noi (Don’t surrender, whatever the situation),” the chief minister said.

“The TMC (Trinamul Congress) is dictating terms in Nandigram and Khejuri and saying they won’t allow anybody to raise red flags. Everyone will have to support Trinamul. Can we accept this?”

Trinamul supporters waved black flags at the chief minister’s convoy while it headed towards East Midnapore district headquarters Tamluk for a public rally. There, he said: “After winning a few elections, they (Trinamul) are thinking they will have the last word. (But there is) no question of bowing before any injustice or terror.”

Before the chief minister spoke at the rally, CPM leaders from Nandigram and Khejuri handed over to him a list of “incidents of terror committed by Trinamul”. The leaders also urged him to ensure the homecoming of those who had to flee the Trinamul strongholds after the party snatched control of the rural bodies.

The chief minister accused the Opposition of disrupting development work and called upon the people to come forward to get it done. “There is a big question mark on whether development is being carried out in East Midnapore because of constant obstruction by the Opposition. The people here have to decide whether they would support development or go by the diktats of a few,” he said amid cheers in a packed football ground.

Bhattacharjee cited district Trinamul leaders’ absence from a meeting to review development work today to stress his point. “I had invited the heads of all panchayat bodies to the meeting (at Kolaghat)... but none of them turned up. They (Trinamul) don’t want to discuss development. Is this democracy?”

As many as 20 of the 25 panchayat samitis in the district are with Trinamul. It also runs the zilla parishad.

In Calcutta, Trinamul state president Subrata Bakshi said its zilla parishad and panchayat members had attended several meetings with the district magistrate on development. “But it’s our policy to stay away from the chief minister.”

In his 45-minute speech, the chief minister also charged the Opposition with scuttling industrial projects proposed in the district. “Many investors, including those from abroad, are showing interest…. East Midnapore needs a power plant. A shipyard is in the pipeline. We have decided to set up a chemical hub in Nayachar. But the Opposition is trying to resist. They are trying to create an atmosphere to deter investors. This situation must be changed.”

Giving an example of how Trinamul was “spreading terror”, Bhattacharjee made an allegation so long levelled against his own party cadres. “At least 178 cars were not allowed to come to the rally,” he said.

Later in the evening, Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee denied the charge.