Its Rural Sales Programme (RSP) focuses on women who are destitute due to abandonment by their family or the deaths of their husbands.
Kshiti Goswami, the state irrigation minister, says the cadres of his Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) were armed only with "hand bombs", whereas the men of CPI(M) had "light machineguns, muskets, revolvers and explosives".In addition, the CPI(M), which has brought land reform and other boons to poor Bengalis, is quite popular.
A local journalist, contacted by AFP, said employees had left the broadcaster's offices as RSP reinforcements arrived.
The overnight deal to restore the interim administration to power was signed after troops entered Ouagadougou, turning up the pressure on the elite RSP who staged the coup.
Members of the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP) detained Michel Kafando and his prime minister Isaac Zida for more than two days, naming General Gilbert Diendéré, longtime aid to Compaoré, as the new leader of the country.
The Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP) is a branch of Burkina Faso's military in charge of protecting the president, its institutions and any person designated by the president of Burkina Faso.
The RSP was created by Compaoré as a way to assert authority after the assassination of Thomas Sankara, Compaoré's predecessor and beloved popular leader.
A principal figure in the RSP, Diendéré was also actively involved in the coup that deposed Sankara.
Under its terms, the RSP agreed to stand down from the positions they had taken up in Ouagadougou, while the army also agreed to withdraw its troops and guarantee the safety of the RSP members as well as their families.
Omega boss Alpha Barry told France 24 television that RSP troops had interrupted programming and threatened to kill staff if they did not stop transmitting.
