In a freewheeling interview with a daily, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has admitted that corruption has influenced the Communist Party of India Marxist's rank and file and some of its leaders are behaving like 'local kings'.
"We are living in a society which is basically corrupt" and it had influenced "our leaders and our boys" too, he said. But the Bengal CM was quick to add that the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was not the change the state needed as they "do not have any programme or policy".
"Some (CPI-M) leaders are behaving like local kings. They don't go to the people, they just dictate. We are sorting out these problems. We have identified a good number of leaders, we have warned them, we have punished them," he told Malayala Manorama newspaper in an exclusive interview.
The chief minister said there was a need to improve the quality and ideological understanding of the party's comrades. "I don't think everything has gone wrong. But we have to change. No doubt about it," he said.
Asked whether he had offered to resign earlier following the electoral setbacks the party has suffered in recent times, he answered in the negative and said it was not a question of an individual's resignation. He dismissed speculations that he skipped CPI-M top brass's meetings in New Delhi to express his annoyance at the central leadership.
Bhattacharjee said a Kolkata-based newspaper group was trying to provoke him into saying something against CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat. "I know Prakash and have very good relations with him," he said.
Asked about Banerjee's slogan of bringing 'change' to the state, he alleged that Trinamool "does not have any idea what change means. It should be a programmatic change. What programme does Mamata have?"
"What is her land policy? What is her food policy, education policy? Nothing. Trinamool Congress wants us to go so that they can take over. This is not the change that Bengal needs," Bhattacharjee said.
On whether the land acquired in Singur for Tata's small car factory will be returned to farmers as demanded by Banerjee, he said it was not legally possible.
"We will try and set up an automobile industry. If (Tata Group Chairman) Ratan Tata is willing, it is all right. If not, we will go for another industrial house," he said.
He also admitted that Bengal had 'missed the bus' of information technology.
"I remember participating in an agitation opposing computers. I don't repent that time. But we realised that it was unnecessary. Mumbai and Bangalore took advantage of the opportunity and reaped benefits. We missed the bus," he said.
