Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday said he had made a mistake by relying on the "sense of responsibility" of opposition parties while dealing with the Singur issue.
He said as he does not believe in using force against demonstrations, he stayed away from using it when opposition parties were agitating against the setting up of Tata Motors' small car factory in Singur.
"I relied on the opposition parties' sense of responsibility as I believe force is not the solution in a democratic system. But they not only disrespected my faith in them, but they didn't see the interest of the state," Bhattacharjee told an interactive session with intellectuals in Kolkata.
Asserting this would never happen again, Bhattacharjee said, "In the post-Singur period we have acquired 8000 acres of land in areas like Andal and Panagarh and we have done it taking along farmers with us."
He contested the suggestion that investors had turned away from West Bengal, saying in 2010 alone, investment worth Rs 15,000 crore had been made in areas like Salboni, Panagarh and Siliguri.
Bhattacharjee accused the opposition parties of being fascist and said they were making tall promises and imitating slogans of Left parties only to baffle the people.
Describing this election as a battle of ideology, the chief minister said, "The election is not about just winning or losing it. It is a matter of keeping away the fascist forces from the state. Therefore, the opposition parties should never be voted to power."
Criticising the print and electronic media for predicting Left Front's prospects, Bhattacharjee said, "We don't pay any heed to all these things because people will say the last word and what they have in mind no one knows."
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