West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on Saturday said if the responsibility for the police firing in Nandigram was to be fixed on someone, it was he who had to take the blame.
"I am deeply distressed. If any responsibility has to be fixed, I as the chief minister, has to be held responsible," Bhattacharya told a Left Front meeting after allies, Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India and Revolutionary Socialist Party wanted the government to fix responsibility for the March 14 police firing that left 14 people dead in Nandigram.
A RSP leader who did not want to be named, told PTI that the chief minister, however questioned whether his owning responsibility would be proper when a CBI investigation was on.
"A CBI inquiry is on. The truth will emerge. The question of fixing responsibility immediately will not be right," Bhattacharya said according to the RSP leader.
Not only administrative measures, but also political efforts should be made for the return of peace in Nandigram, Bhattacharya said.
He however, warned that the situation was becoming complex. "L K Advani has gone to Nandigram. Others are also going. The situation is becoming complicated," he said.
On the firing, the chief minister said he did not have correct assessment of the situation that it would escalate to such an extent. "We knew that there would be protests, but could not comprehend its scale."
He also agreed to the pullback of police forces from Nandigram in phases, one among the five demands of the allies.
