Mamata attacks Congress again
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday once again targeted the Congress for organising protests over renaming of the Indira Bhavan and accused the ally of working in tandem with the CPI(M) to derail her development drive. “To those who have taken to streets against the setting up of Nazrul Academy and Nazrul Bhavan and who are organising road blockades alongwith the CPI(M), I want to send a message: you cannot stop development by blocking roads,” she added.
Ms Banerjee was speaking at a programme organised by the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (WBMDFC) at the Netaji Indoor Stadium where loans and scholarships were distributed among students.
The chief minister, however, used the platform of a government programme to settle political scores with the Congress and the CPI(M).
“There are so many roads and institutions which were named after their leaders. There should be some left for other great people who took part in the freedom movement and worked for development,” she said.
A defiant Ms Banerjee added that she was least bothered by the criticism being voiced by the CPI(M) and their friends (read: Congress) against her government.
“There is a saying that babu chale bazaar, kutte bhonke hazaar (a gentleman goes to the market unfazed by the barking of the dogs),” she said, adding that she was not flustered by their “barking”.
Although she hastened to add that she was merely quoting an old proverb and meant no disrespect to her political opponents, the language of the proverb provoked angry reaction from both the CPI(M) and the Congress.
“How could a chief minister use such street language and that too in front of students. In Trinamul Congress regime, political discourse has degenerated to this extent that political opponents are being compared with dogs,” CPI(M) central committee member Mohammed Salim said.
Mr Mohammed Salim also criticised Ms Banerjee for using a government event to attack other political parties.
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