This is with reference to the conversation with me (‘Ideas Exchange’, The Sunday Express, October 29). There have been some errors and out of context references in thepiece which I would like to clarify.The reply to the first question on what has been the Left’s experience of supporting a Congress-led government at the Centre was printed as: “Right now we are in a phase where the Left is new to being in government at the Centre.” This is incorrect. The Left is not in government at the Centre.What I had actually stated was: “Right now we are in a phase where the Left is supporting a Congress-led government at the Centre. This is a new experience.” Another question sought a comparison between the West Bengal and Kerala chief ministers. In the reply printed in the paper, there has been some mixing up of references with respect to the West Bengal chief minister and the Kerala chief minister. When I said, “He has been in the party for longer than me, maybe 40 years, and he is a core organisational man,” I was not referring to V.S. Achuthanandan but to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. I stated that the West Bengal chief minister has been in the party for 40 years and he takes decisions in consultation with the party; that we have a collective style of functioning.Again, an out-of-the-context reference has been attributed to me in reply to the same question. I am quoted as saying that “It’s just happened that the party has increased the number of conferences!” What I actually said was that in the last two state conferences the industrial policy and approach to development in West Bengal was discussed and decided.In reply to the same question, another quote has been attributed to me: “We want Haldia, but the Centre is not allowing that.” This is meaningless. What I referred to was the situation that existed more than two decades ago before deregulation and delicensing. At that time the Centre was discriminating against West Bengal on the issue of licences to be given to the state for projects such as the Haldia petrochemicals and Bakreshwar power plants. So the reference should read: “In the earlier period the Centre was refusing to sanction Haldia and other projects.”
