Mamata brings Nandigram to book fair

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is out to spoil Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s party, yet again. This time at the latter’s favourite event — the Kolkata Book Fair.
In a deft move that goes beyond mere literary pursuit, Banerjee has set up a stall at the fair ground to not only showcase her party’s weekly news journal but also remind millions of visitors the “horrors of Nandigram police firing and the injustice meted out to agricultural farmers in Singur.”
For years, Bhattacharjee has been one of the main patrons of the Kolkata Book Fair. But Banerjee seems to have decided to take the political battle straight into Bhattacharjee’s favourite haunt. And this time, she will also have a section of the city’s intellectuals batting for her.
Jago Bangla — a newsweekly of which Banerjee is the editor — had first set up a stall at the city’s book fair in 2006. But this time, an upbeat Banerjee got renowned artist Shubhaprasanna to design the stall. The inauguration of the stall on Friday was equally grand with a large number of eminent artistes and intellectuals making it a point to attend it. Notables among them were Jnanpith award winner Mahasweta Devi, playwright Bibhas Chakrabarthy and singer Kabir Suman to name a few.
“Setting up of the stall is part of our movement. Besides highlighting other issues, we will also show how the state Government is trying to snatch land from the poor. We would like to spread the message that the days of this government are numbered and a new dawn is on the anvil,” said Partha Chatterjee, who brings out the newsweekly.