‘Those who called me Agarwal hurt a community’

For years, he has been the face of the CPI-M in north Bengal. A four-time MLA from Siliguri, he has taken the credit for all that is good in the Hills as well as the blame for all that is not. Hundred per cent confident of making it five times in-a-row, Mr Asok Bhattacharya conversed with Manas Ranjan Banerjee. Excerpts

Q: Are you satisfied with your performance as the urban development minister?
A: As a member of legislative Assembly, I am fully satisfied with my performance. As a minister, not so much. Serving people, irrespective of their political affiliation, was my main objective. The door of my house was open to all in the past 20 years. Nobody has been refused attention.
Q: What are your significant achievements as the urban development minister?
A: Development of slum areas. Land reforms, including that in urban areas, were one the epic achievements of the Left Front government. We have been able to provide ‘secure land tenure’ to the people. Poor families were given pattas and accommodated in housing projects in lieu of a token Re 1.
Q: Success in which area would have made you happier?
A: Being the chairman of the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority, I have been able to develop the area. People have been empowered and their expectations fulfilled to the best of our capability over the past 20 years. This apart, no one can deny the overall success of the KMDA in completing urban and peripheral development projects .
Q: Despite your relentless service to the poor people, why did a section of the people recently say ‘Asok Bhattacharya has become Asok Agarwal?
A: I used to give first priority in serving the poor. I took special congizance of the problems of linguistic and religious minority groups, as well as the general public. Siliguri is a cosmopolitan town. More than 35 per cent of its population come from the Bihari and Marwari communities. These people were left out when the Congress was in power. We decided to honour them because they can generate employment. It is a significant achievement of the LF. Those who called me “Asok Agarwal”, are insulting these people.
Q: Are you confident to win the seat. Do you think that the LF would be able retain power?
A: Hundred per cent!
Q: Do you know that many Nepali-speaking people in the Siliguri sub-division, who were active CPI-M members and workers, decided to vote against you?
A: I do not think so. Hundreds of Nepali-speaking people, who voted in favour of the Congress and the Trinamul Congress in the Siliguri municipal election, are willingly participating in my programmes and approaching me with their  present problems.
Q: If Miss Mamata Banerjee’s party, with help from the Congress, comes to power what will be the role of LF as the Opposition?
A: They would never come to power. The Trinamul had managed to bag a majority of the seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. They performed better in the panchayat and the municipal elections too. They have seven ministerial berths in the Central government. However, since then, the people had started comparing our performance with theirs and the recent evaluation report made by the people does not rule in their favour.
Q: Some say that the people want an alliance between the Congress and Trinamul Congress to oust the LF from the state. Your thoughts?
A: I do not believe that the people want such an alliance. A section of the people are discussing the situation in the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri municipality after the municipal election. It is now crystal clear that though the Congress and Trinamul bagged a majority of the seats, they failed to form the board jointly. They would not be able to run the government together even if they manage to win the election, which is again a distant possibility. People have realised that there is no alternative to the LF.
Q: The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha convened an all-party meeting in Darjeeling on 18 March to field ‘consensus’ candidates in the Hills. What is the motive behind and implication of this move?
A: The GJMM is a fascist party. They can raise race issues to provoke people, create unrest and break harmony between people living in the Hills and the plains. They wanted to oust prominent players but could not do it to three major parties ~ AIGL, GNLF and the CPI-M. Some Hills-based parties, including the CPRM, attended the meeting under compulsion. I have news about the CPRM experiencing a setback and facing internal squabbling.
Q: Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee has done a lot for north Bengal, especially for the Darjeeling Hills and assured the people that if she comes to power, she would resolve the crisis. Do you think that she would be able to do it?
A: She would not able to resolve the crisis. Political parties should have a clear perspective of the problem and formulate specific programmes for the development of backward classes and areas. However, neither the Congress nor the Trinamul Congress looked into the problems seriously. Despite her proclamations, Miss Banerjee knows very well that she would not able to resolve the crisis but went ahead with her assurances just to earn political dividend. She should desist from dividing Bengal. Even the BJP played the same political card. Mr Jaswant Singh had assured them that he would be able to give them Gorkhaland. He did it just to win the seat. But he knows well that Gorkhaland is a distant dream.
Q: How will the LF, if it retains power, be able to resolve the present imbroglio in the Hills?
A: A solution can easily be achieved through tri-partite talks. The matter was almost settled through dialogue in January. But the GJMM, under the guidance of the Trinamul Congress, started to play a different game. We suspect that Miss Mamata Banerjee asked them not to settle things before the Assembly election and continue with their agitations in the name of  Gorkhaland. But our stand is very clear. The problem in Darjeeling would be resolved by setting up a high-powered regional authority for the three Hills sub-divisions under a better Darjeeling Gorkha Hill council.
Q: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP) and other regional parties, including the GJMM, are trying to unite themselves against the LF in the Terai and the Dooars. What are your thoughts?
A: The culture of the northeast has intruded here. A group is in league with some organisations operating in the northeast to create unrest in the Dooars and adjoining areas including the Hills. Foreign hands are also active to create disturbance in the Dooars. The Congress is trying to instigate regional parties and organizations in creating disruptions. It has assured the ABAVP that it would give them Sixth Schedule status. The Congress leaders know that the Sixth Schedule would not be applicable to the Dooars. However promises to that end was made with an eye on the vote bank ahead of the poll. The Sixth Schedule, following the model of the northeast states, would not be implemented here because the people do not belong to indigenous tribes, they are migrants.