Bengal CM accuses Mamata of spreading 'canards'

KOLKATA: In a strong personal attack on Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattachajee today accused her of "spreading canards".

Without naming the Trinamool chief, Bhattacharjee said, "when the Stephen Court building caught fire, she said we did it. This is a lie."

"She claimed we were trying to foment communal violence (before the municipal elections). This is a lie. She falsely blamed us for the Jnaneswari Express and the railway mishap at Sainthia. These are also lies," he said at a Left Front function on the 51st anniversary of the Food Movement.

Referring to the incident in which a truck hit Banerjee's convoy while returning from Lalgarh rally, he said, "no one knows why she had got down from her convoy. She claimed it was a conspiracy to kill her. This is a lie."

"It is a single leader-based party. The others in the party sit at her feet. Is it a party? Everyday she speaks lies and spreads canards. We had faced a similar situation in the 70s. We had lost many of our workers then."

"The party has no policy or programme. Whatever she says is the policy," Bhattacharjee alleged.

"I believe that the people of West Bengal will not be able to accept such a party."

The ruling Left Front should go to people with confidence for defeating Trinamool Congress and Maoists, he said.

The Tata Motors' flight from Singur due to prolonged agitation by Trinamool Congress had also done a lot of damage to the state, he said.

"The entire country knows what happened there. Had it materialised, several thousand people would have worked there," the chief minister said.