Click to play videoKolkata: Protests against the CPM cadres' takeover in Nandigram and the Chief Minister's statement on Tuesday that the cadre repaid the opposition in the same coin have caused a furore.
Kolkata was out on the streets on Wednesday, protesting against the communists running the state government, for letting Nandigram spiral into violence which most believe was state-sponsored.
Streets that were deserted a day before to support a bandh against the violence were jammed today, with protesters - some of them just children - coming together to share the grief with a fistful of rice and grain while others raised their hands in defiance.
"It's a small initiative taken by us, but soon we will turn into a mass movement," said one of the protestors.
A schoolgirl added, ""We really wanted to be here today, to show how much we feel for them, how much we care about them. They are always in our thoughts."
Adding muscle to the crowds, college students also joined in, some of them having bunked classes to swell the numbers. They carried posters showing a bloodthirsty chief Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.
Singer Usha Uthup, who was among the protestors said, "I have nothing to say, I was in Vietnam. Straight from Vietnam to Nandigram.
"We need to get together. Unity is Solidarity!" she shouted.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, the political divide over Nandigram grew sharper.
Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee - also a CPM MP - crudely side-stepped the issue along.Lok Sabha Speaker
"I cannot hear," said the Speaker and on being exhorted to listen to the plea that the victims of Nandigram are citizens of our country, Chatterjee followed it up with, "I cannot listen."
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi was equally unmoved. "I'll not respond now," he said.
The BJP, however came out with all barrels blazing at the Bengal CM.
BJP leader Sushma Swaraj was loud in condemning Buddha's statement.
"This is the language of outlaws which the Chief Minister has spoken!" she stormed.
Thursday will see journalists thronging the streets of Kolkata in a similar protest against a Chief Minister, who was seen as one of the most progressive in the country.
With inputs from Shivpujan Jha
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