Trinamul Congress chief and railway minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday slammed the Left parties and said that their stand on 2G spectrum scam betrayed their “double standards and hypocrisy”. Referring to the report published in this newspaper on November 29 about the state government’s links with corporate lobbyist
Niira Radia and her public relations company Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, she asked the ruling CPI(M) to come clean. Without naming either Ms Radia or her company, Ms Banerjee said that the state government had “deputed” (sic) them.
She accused the Left parties of doing politics on 2G issue on which they have along with the BJP stalled the proceedings of the Parliament since November 16. “They went to the President today demanding JPC. Well, it is their democratic right. But try to find out the details about what they have been doing in West Bengal. There are so many areas where Left Front government handed over (contracts) to this lady whom I will not name and who is involved,” she added.
Ms Banerjee pointed out that the Left parties who were clamouring for an inquiry and JPC should also have a look in their own backyard.
“Charity should begin at home. Before attacking Delhi, they should see their own face in the mirror,” she added.
Claiming that West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and Haldia Petrochemical became clients of Ms Radia’s company at around the same time when Tata Motors’ signed the agreement for Nano plant in Singur, Ms Banerjee asked: “How these state government’s development projects were handed over to them?”