New Delhi: "Communists are not fools. They are not against reforms. What we want is what the Prime Minister has said about reforms with a human face," West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said today (May 29, 2004).

He made this comment when asked whether the communists were opposed to economic reforms. After a 40-minute meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which he described as "a courtesy call", Bhattacharya said that West Bengal had invited and received a high dose of foreign direct investment, especially in the field of IT and communications.

Claiming that West Bengal had received "maximum" FDI from Japan, he said leading companies like Mitsubishi and Marubeni were coming to the State in a big way. Similarly, IT giant IBM, which already had software facilities in the State, was going ahead with a major expansion spree.

On his meeting with the Prime Minister, Bhattacharya said that he discussed the Common Minimum Programme in general terms and the "success stories" of his State in various fields, like land reforms, agriculture and IT and communications.

"I have not come with a Charter of Demands for West Bengal...I am not a Chief Minister who will ask for packages. If we have any specific problem, we will raise it with the concerned Union Ministries and not burden the Prime Minister," Bhattacharya said in reply to questions.