RSP may pull out of West Bengal govt

West Bengal's ruling Left Front partner Revolutionary Socialist Party on Friday said it was considering to quit the Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee Cabinet over police firing on villagers in Nandigram and at being "kept in the dark" over key policy issues.

"We are seriously discussing that it may not be possible to continue any longer in the Cabinet because of unprecedented police brutalities in Nandigram," senior RSP leader and party member of Parliament Monoj Bhattacherjee told PTI.

The RSP leader said, "It is unfortunate that the chief minister is still not repentant for the loss of so many lives. We are deeply disturbed at the police brutality. Even former chief minister Jyoti Basu has slammed it."

Meanwhile, RSP leader and PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami said the strike called by the opposition parties in the state on Friday was "spontaneous and total."

He said the people supported the strike to protest the "genocide" in Nandigram. The party has four ministers in the Left Front government. Communist Party of India state secretary Manju Kumar Mazumdar said, "The people of West Bengal are always against police attack on them. They have not accepted the police brutalities in Nandigram and this is evident in today's bandh."

Forward Bloc leader Hafiz Ali Sairani also said he shared this view.