TMC accuses opposition parties of maligning Mamata Banerjee

Amid criticism of the West Bengal government's handling of the Burdwan blast incident, the Trinamool Congress today accused the opposition parties of maligning Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in every incident. TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee refuted the state BJP's allegation that she had attended a meeting which endorsed the formation of the NIA while she was an MP. "In every incident the opposition is trying to link up Mamata Banerjee. Campaign to malign her is going on after failing to counter her politically," Chatterjee, who is also the state's education minister, told a press conference here.

Alleging that attempts were made to kill Mamata Banerjee during the erstwhile Left regime, he said, "The CPI(M) could not tackle her, so a campaign is going on to malign her. "BJP is also treading the same path to malign her on very issue," Chatterjee said. He countered state BJP president Rahul Sinha's comment that Mamata attended the Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting on NIA when she was a member of Parliament".

"Let them provide the documents in support of their contention. The Opposition is trying to fish in troubled waters," he said. Sinha had alleged that Banerjee during her tenure as an MP was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Home Affairs and was present at one of its meetings in 2007 which took the decision to set up the NIA.