Defending the recapture of Nandigram by cadres of the ruling Communist Party of India - Marxist, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on Tuesday said that opposition parties there had been 'paid back in the same coin'.
"I wrote to the Home ministry on October 27 but they informed me on November 5 that they could not provide Central
"They have been paid back in the same coin. Our supporters, after remaining away from their homes for 11 months, were desperate to return. They risked their lives and returned home," said Bhattacharya.
He accused the Centre of delaying the deployment of CRPF troops in the troubled area and added that had the Central forces arrived in time, the situation could have been avoided.
forces because they were to be sent to Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh (where assembly polls will be held)," Bhattacharya said.
Asked whether the events in Nandigram took place as a result of the failure of the police, Bhattacharya admitted, "To some extent it is their failure. The police could not enter Nandigram. If they could have, the situation would have been better".
The chief minister claimed that he had personally called up Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and urged them to send Central forces.
"One battalion of CRPF was sanctioned for Nandigram. They reached Kolkata on November 11 and went to Nandigram the next day," he said.