Kolkata, March 14 (IANS): Estranged Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy was prevented from entering Nandigram by his own partymen even as West Bengal's ruling party observed the Nandigram Divas (Day) paying homage to the 14 farmers who were killed in police firing at the height of the anti-acquisition movement in this rural area of East Midnapore district.
Stripped off of all party positions, Roy sought to lead a separate march instead of participating in the Trinamool organised martyrs' rally. But his convoy was prevented from entering Nandigram by Trinamool activists, who waved black flags and flashed placards with "Mukul, go back" on them.
Roy's three attempts to enter Nandigram yielded no result even as his party peers including secretary general and state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim and MP Subhendhu Adhikari among others attended the rally.
"We do not know why he came and went back. This is the party programme. If he informs us about this, then we will take necessary steps," Chatterjee told media persons.
Even as he expressed his anguish over being denied entry, Roy acknowledged party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's role in the anti-acquisition movement that started in January, 2007, but snowballed into a major agrarian agitation that eventually led to police firing March 14 that left 14 villagers dead and scores injured.
"Definitely, Mamata Banerjee had a role in the movement," Roy said about the stir against forcible land acquisition by the erstwhile Left Front government for a special economic zone. The stir eventually catapulted the Trinamool to uproot the Marxist government after 34 years of uninterrupted rule.
Banerjee used Twitter to express her solidarity: "Today is Nandigram Divas. We salute the martyrs who died on this day in 2007. We can never forget Nandigram."
Credited as the architect of Trinamool's electoral success, Roy's relation with the party nosedived following his interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the multi-crore rupee Saradha scam.
Going against the party stand that the CBI was targeting Trinamool leaders, Roy insisted he would cooperate with the probe agency even if it called it a hundred times.