KOLKATA: Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Abdul Rezzak Mollah Friday lashed out at outgoing Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen and blamed them for the debacle of the Left Front government.
"Had they paid heed to my words earlier then we wouldn't have faced such a situation," Mollah told media persons.
"I have heard that all big leaders of our party have lost. He (Buddhadeb) cannot catch a benign snake, and he went to catch a poisonous snake. Industry is a poisonous snake. They did not listen to my words at that time," said Mollah who managed to retain his Canning East seat with a huge margin even as most of his ministerial colleagues including Bhattacharjee bit the dust.
Mollah is an MLA from Canning East constituency since 1972.
He had on several occasions earlier expressed his opposition to the land acquisition policy of the LF government, which tied itself into knots while trying to acquire land for industries at Singur and Nandigram two years ago.
"Why blame only the chief minister, there are other branches also," said Mollah, when asked whether Bhattacharjee was to blame for the rout.
Mamata Bannerjee's Trinamool Congress and its allies swept the assembly polls in West Bengal Friday ending the Left Front's unprecedented 34-year rule in the state. Several senior ministers including Nirupam Sen and Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta lost the polls with a huge margin.
Asked about Sen losing, Mollah said "He will lose, everybody knew that. That's because he is the kingpin of all problems."