Sitaram Yechury at the session. Telegraph picture

Calcutta, Aug. 21: Interactive session is the flavour of the season but not everyone is as fortunate as Mamata Banerjee to enjoy an uncontested run. Sitaram Yechury, the CPM politburo member who addressed a meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce at Bengal Club on Thursday, should know.

Yechury, whose party’s labour union Citu is celebrating the “success” of a 24-hour bandh on Wednesday, held forth before the industrialists on issues such as the nuclear deal, price rise and land acquisition.

As soon as his speech was over, an industrialist asked a question on the Indo-US nuclear agreement, and Yechury breezed through the familiar territory. But the next question rang out like a pistol shot in sharp contrast with the diffident queries that greeted Mamata at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.

Over to Bengal Club, Thursday afternoon.

Harsh Jha (MD, Tata Metaliks): Please forgive me if I am being a bit harsh, but I think the Left is still wrapped up in the 60s and 70s. Why else do we have so many bandhs in this particular state? Yesterday’s strike call forced the state to come to a halt. What did the country gain?…

Yechury: (Tries to say something)

Jha: We have heard you. Please hear us, too.

Weren’t you contributing to inflation as well through this bandh? What impression are you sending out? The daily labourers lost out on their income.

Yechury: I think you are being too partisan. It’s not that we call for industrial strike too often. If I remember, the last such strike was called three years ago. And what impression are you talking about? If you are so concerned, why didn’t you support us when the CPM sought imposition of tax on windfall gains on private, joint venture oil firms and private refineries?….

Jha: (Tries to speak)

Yechury: I have heard you. Please listen.

We don’t want oil companies to make this windfall profit and let the common man bear the burden of increase in oil prices. Please don’t think in isolation.

Gaurav Swarup (MD, Paharpur Cooling Towers): I think we are deviating. Sir, without being so blunt, I think you will appreciate that bandh does affect the image of the state. Apart from other things, it does speak of the work culture as well. In fact, frequent bandhs affect the overall environment for investments in the state.

Yechury: I think you must appreciate that the CPM has always believed that strike is the last option. What do you do? We have been trying to attract the attention of the Prime Minister on the price rise of essential commodities and other issues for the last three years. Forget the figures of inflation. It’s the normal people who go out to the market who are the worst hit.

Yechury: And I would like to know whether the impression of the state is being hit owing to the bandh call or the agitation in Singur? Please understand that it’s the pent-up frustration of the people that force us to tread the path of a bandh. It’s the last resort.

Dibyendu Bose (MD, Tata Martrade International Logistics Ltd): But Sir, people outside feel bandh is the first option for the Left in Bengal. OK, even if we accept this bandh culture, can we just ensure that during a bandh, you can at least keep planes and trains out of its ambit? The aged and ailing, waiting for long-distance trains, suffer tremendously during such bandhs. At least, if it can be ensured that the sick can reach hospitals on a bandh day, that would make a lot of difference.

Yechury: I know what people feel about Bengal from outside and it’s not what you claim. Even Kerala had a bandh yesterday. But yes, I think what you are suggesting is true. We do try and ensure that the sick and the ailing don’t bear the brunt of the strike call. Trust me, we tried really hard and when there was no option, we had to go for a strike.