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Midnapore, Feb. 21: A CPM supporter in West Midnapore today locked up the party’s office situated on a small plot donated by him because his comrades did not construct a statue of his freedom-fighter father as promised.
CPM supporter Subhas Hazra, a resident of Panchberia village, 120km from Calcutta, said his father Jogendra was a freedom fighter and had joined the undivided communist party after Independence and later joined the CPM.
“My father died in 1985. He always wanted a CPM party office in the village. So, in 1986, I donated one cottah land (around 700sqft) to the local branch committee of the party but on the condition that my father’s statue would be erected in front of the office. The condition was included in the deed and was registered,” said 45-year-old Subhas. “But the party has not kept its promise. So I locked up the party office today,” the farmer said.
A local CPM member admitted that Subhas was right. But he said the party, which had ruled Bengal for over three decades, did not have the funds now to erect the statue.
“We got the plot in 1986 but we could not build a party office immediately because of lack of funds. We built a small two-room office in 2009. But we could not raise funds for the statue. Meanwhile, the situation turned for the worse after the Left lost in the 2011 Assembly polls. We found out that a proper statue would cost around Rs 50,000. Now… the state of funds is even worse,” said the party member.
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