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Monday, May 17, 2010
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Congress forced to oppose Trinamool, says Buddhadeb

Ananya Dutta

KOLKATA: The Congress was forced to oppose the Trinamool Congress at many places in the coming municipal elections in West Bengal as the latter was a violent political party without any agenda or sense of purpose, theChief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said here on Sunday.

At a press conference, Mr. Bhattacharjee said, “We have had several experiences of alliances between Opposition parties. There have been situations where alliances have been there and when they have failed. But in this instance where the Congress is opposing the Trinamool at many places, one thing that has become clear is that the Congress has been forced to do so.”

He said the Trinamool Congress was a force that believed in violence. It neither had an agenda nor intent. That party's agenda was divorced from reality and was not based on policy or thinking.

Describing the Trinamool campaign for the civic polls as being reminiscent of “the false propaganda of the parties of Hitler and Mussolini,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said West Bengal had never seen electioneering sink to such low levels.

Referring to the Trinamool accusations that the Left parties had deliberately set afire Stephen Court on Park Street and that they might trigger riots in Kolkata, he said “the question of riots during an election campaign has never been raised before.”

He appealed to people to oppose the “language of the criminal world” that had crept into politics.

Mr. Bhattacharjee said the Trinamool “is breeding a new culture — one of threats, terror and violence.”

Ruling out early Assembly elections, as suggested by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee in her speeches, he said, “She neither knows nor has read the Constitution….No one other than the State government can propose that elections be held.”

Asked about the inter-party clashes across the State which claimed many lives, Mr. Bhattacharjee said the issue was being dealt with at the administrative level. But at the political level, the Trinamool refused to cooperate with the government in resolving it.

“I have asked them in the past and still appeal to them to come for discussions so that we can identify these areas and resolve the issue…..But the Opposition party has taken a unilateral decision to not cooperate with the government.”

Mr. Bhattacharjee also alleged that the RSS, Maoists, right-wing organisations and fundamentalists had formed “a rainbow alliance” with the Trinamool to form “a dark, toxic force” that wanted to wrest power from the Left.

On track

Stressing the Left Front's agenda of development for the coming elections, he said the process of industrialisation was on track despite the obstructionist view of the Trinamool.

The year 2009-10 saw an investment of Rs. 7,000 crore into industries in the State.

Mr. Bhattacharjee also criticised the UPA government at the Centre. He said it was not adequately dealing with the problem of price rise.

The Left parties would fare much better in the coming elections than the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

“Even though a large section of the electorate voted against us in the Lok Sabha elections, the people have also experienced its consequence for one year. Public opinion is not stagnant.”

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