Thursday, September 1 2005 11:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TC) and Congress in West Bengal yesterday (August 31, 2005) demanded immediate convening of a special Assembly session to censure Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacherjee for his deal with Indonesia's Salim group keeping his cabinet and the opposition "in the dark".

The Leader of the Opposition Pankaj Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata that Trinamool Congress had written to Speaker H A Halim yesterday (August 31, 2005) to demand a special session of the house.

Echoing the TC leader, working President of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Pradip Bhattacherjee said his party had sought a special session of the house besides convening of an all-party meeting to discuss the issue of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to West Bengal as well as the deal with the Salim group.

The Trinamool leader said the Chief Minister did not give any indication of the proposed deal when the assembly was in session.

"The matter was not even discussed in the state cabinet as a minister belonging to the ruling Left Front's non-Communist Party of India (Marxists) partner expressed surprise over the deal," the Trinamool leader said.

He said that the Assembly must be informed of the nature of the deal and the terms and conditions of the move to hand over 5000 acre to the Salim group.