Congress chief launches attack on Mamata govt.
Launching a frontal attack on TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accused her of unleashing 'tanasahi' (autocracy) in West Bengal and said the chief minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are "two sides of the same coin".
' People of Bengal facing tanasahi'
"The people in Bengal are facing 'tanashahi' of the Centre and the Mamata government. Mamata has not kept her promises to the poor, the minorities and the backward. We had believed in her promises and supported TMC in the 2011 assembly poll," she told election meetings. "Bengal has never witnessed such a situation as it is witnessing now. It is witnessing authoritarian rule of both Modi government and the Mamata government," she said.
Gandhi alleged that the women in Bengal faced the maximum atrocities despite the state having a woman chief minister, while farmers are deprived of just prices for their products.
"The poor have no job but Mamata government is not concerned. Describing Modi and Mamata as "two sides of the same coin", the Congress president said, "Both (Narendra) Modi and Mamata bluffed the people".
Indicating understanding between Modi and Mamata, Gandhi said, "When BJP government gets into a trouble in Parliament, TMC helps it and in return Narendra Modi turns a blind eye to anti-people policies of Mamata Banerjee," she said.
' Tacit arrangement between Modi and Mamata'
"Did the Modi government or Mamata Banerjee take any action against those who have looted lakhs of people in the name of chit funds?" she asked. The Mamata government, she said, has betrayed Bengal and the Modi government has done the same to the people of the country. "Mamata did not arrest those who are involved in chit fund scam and Modi helped those who have looted banks to flee the country safely," Gandhi said in an apparent reference to the Vijay Mallya case.
Turning to Trinamool Congress's(TMC) slogan of "Ma-Mati-Manush"(Mother-Soil-Humanity), she said "Ma is suffering, Mati is drying up and Manush are facing hardship and unemployment". Gandhi alleged that a government has come to power at the Centre which has nothing to do with democracy and said that Mamata Banerjee did not raise her voice when Congress government in Uttarakhand was dismissed. Congress is fighting the election in alliance with the Left. All 12 Congress-Left alliance candidates of Malda district were present at Gandhi's meetings.
Gandhi said, "There are people who after coming to power think themselves to be god. People of Bengal will teach them a lesson." She said never before has the country seen such a government at the Centre which has no faith in democratic set up.
Sonia criticises fund-cut
"Earlier also there were non-Congress governments at the Centre. But it is only the Modi government which has no trust or faith on democracy," she alleged. Gandhi said it was Congress which had protested against the anti-people policies of BJP such as the Land Ordinance Bill and the decision to tax Provident Fund.
She also criticised the Modi government for either cutting down funds or stopping various pro-people schemes such as MNREGA and other schemes.
TMC hits back
The ruling Trinamool Congress criticised Congress president Sonia Gandhi for comparing its supremo Mamata Banerjee with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating it was "unfortunate" and "speaks of the political desperation of Congress."
"After listening to what you said in your #BengalPolls campaign meeting, you have tested the limits of our politeness and compelled us to react. How could you how dare you, we would say compare Mamata Banerjee to Narendra Modi? "How could you even concoct something as devious and ridiculous as that? This is sad and unfortunate, it is also petty and speaks of political desperation. The lengths people go to, to try and score cheap points in election season," a statement issued by TMC chief national spokesperson Derek O'Brien here said.
"We know why you said what you did today. The circle is now complete: Sonia and Modi are on the same side. Mamata Banerjee is on the other side. In Bengal your party is a facsimile of the Communists.
"In Delhi, you play along with the BJP government. No wonder the National Herald case is "under control". No wonder the promised investigations against UPA ministers and your associates have not materialised. The Sonia-Modi arrangement is so neat, it has reduced national politics to a protection racket. And in Kolkata, the pot calls the kettle black," the statement added.
The TMC leader said, "We have always been very restrained when it comes to criticising you. We have strived to maintain decency and decorum and never attacked you personally, despite political differences and vitriolic and hostile words used against the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee by your Congress underlings," he said.
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