Congress criticises Mamata Banerjee for 'denigrating' PM

Congress today hit out at former ally and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for her 'personal attack' on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and mimicking him, saying such 'impulsiveness' violated political decorum.

"We have noted with dismay that the West Bengal chief minister has indulged in a personal attack on the Prime Minister and even described him as not being a grassroots leader besides taking recourse to mimicry in a televised interview last night," WBPCC president Pradip Bhattacharya told a press conference at the party office in Kolkata.

Urging Banerjee to desist from making 'unwanted comments and mimicry', he said it set an unhealthy precedence in national politics.

Bhattacharya said "the comments you have made, I feel, would have hurt you deeply too if made against you.

"It is not wise for her to be so much impulsive as such trends violate political decorum," he said.

The WBPCC chief suggested that the chief minister was agitated after finding that the UPA government was still in power at the Centre after withdrawal of support by her Trinamool Congress.

"She is frustrated that her wish for a mid-term election at the doorstep after withdrawal of Trinamool Congress support to the UPA has not been fulfilled," he said.

In New Delhi, Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi told reporters that while there is no definition of a mass leader, Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister of the country who is respected all over the world

During the course of the interview in Kolkata, Mamata said the prime minister was not a "grassroots man" and mimicked his soft-spoken style.