Kolkata, Aug 21: Left Front today accused SUCI of trying to impose a 24-hour bandh on West Bengal and said that the arrest of a large number of party supporters went to prove that their call did not have popular support. The arrest of over 1,000 SUCI supporters went to show that the party tried to force the bandh but did not have the support of the people of the state and was a total failure, Left Front chairman Biman Bose told reporters here.

Slamming both SUCI and CPI (ML) Liberation for calling the bandh, Bose said general strike, the last weapon of the masses, should not be used frequently.

"The hard-earned right of workers should not be used frequently and irresponsibly," Bose said and denied that it was the left front which had established bandh culture in West Bengal.

Bose claimed that power consumption, work in factories, tea gardens, coal mines and industries were almost normal, "though attendance in offices and courts was about 70 per cent as road and rail transport were disrupted by SUCI workers at some places."
Work in farmlands in the rural belts of the state was also normal showing that the working class and the peasantry had rejected the bandh call, while schools and colleges, unlike previous bandhs, remained open, Bose said.

He denied the SUCI charge that CPI(M) cadres had been deployed to break the bandh saying, "We don't consider SUCI a threat requiring deployment of our cadres."

"The SUCI may call a 365-day bandh as this only may satisfy the party," Bose said.

Work in farmlands in the rural belts of the state was also normal showing that the working class and the peasantry had rejected the bandh call, while schools and colleges, unlike previous bandhs, remained open, Bose said.

He denied the SUCI charge that CPI(M) cadres had been deployed to break the bandh saying, "We don't consider SUCI a threat requiring deployment of our cadres."

"The SUCI may call a 365-day bandh as this only may satisfy the party," Bose said.
He claimed that the bandh, though called by SUCI, was indirectly supported by Trinamool Congress.

Bureau Report