Bhattacharjee at the rally in Heria on Saturday. Picture by Jahangir Badsa

Khejuri, April 30: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the state government had not made any mistake by planning to set up industry in Nandigram.

“Amra Nandigram ke arekta Haldia toiri korte cheyechhilam (we had planned to turn Nandigram into another Haldia). Haldia was just a town before we developed it into a city. We wanted to do the same for Nandigram. This was not a mistake,” the chief minister told a rally in East Midnapore’s Heria, 15km from Nandigram.

He accused the Trinamul Congress of running a “disinformation campaign”.

“They told farmers that we were going to snatch their land. They even told the people that we would take away their temples and mosques. All these were lies,” Bhattacharjee said.

The chief minister alleged that Trinamul had created “unrest” in Nandigram. “They killed our supporters, torched their homes and left them homeless.”

Bhattacharjee said he had “not asked police to open fire” in Nandigram on March 14, 2007. “But when trouble broke out, they had to open fire,” he added. “When the police went to restore law and order, they (Trinamul) placed women and children in front.”

Fourteen villagers, including women and children, were killed in the firing. It was the trigger for the CPM’s slide at the hustings and gave the initial impetus to Mamata Banerjee’s rise.

The chief minister said the anti land-acquisition movements in Nandigram and Singur “had not been able to scare away investors”.

“A steel plant is coming up in West Midnapore’s Salboni. It will be the biggest steel plant in the state. A fertiliser plant is being set up in Durgapur. Industries are being developed in Siliguri and other parts of north Bengal.”

Bhattacharjee accused Trinamul of trying to stop development. “We built roads, they kept on digging them. We built bridges, they damaged them.”

He said the Trinamul-controlled zilla parishad and gram panchayats in East Midnapore were the “worst-run” in the state. “Just look at the deplorable condition of the gram panchayats in Nandigram. All of them are run by Trinamul. When we used to run the panchayats, people got work. But now, Trinamul is busy minting money,” the chief minister added.

Criticising Trinamul’s change chant, Bhattacharjee said: “They want change. What do they want to change? They will snatch the land we gave to the villagers.”

East Midnapore goes to the polls on May 3.