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Sonia,
Mamata war cry: Send the Left packing
Sabyasachi
Bandopadhyay
Kharagpur/Midnapore,
May 3: At
the first joint rally of Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee here today,
the Trinamool Congress chief kept mum on BJP though the Congress
president blasted the party.
‘‘The Tehelka episode exposing corruption in BJP has made
every Indian hang his head in shame,’’ Sonia said. But
most of her 10-minute speech was full of stinging criticism of the
ruling CPI(M) in West Bengal.
‘‘The Marxists have kept Bengal in its yoke for 24 years.
Now, a wind of change is blowing across the state. To put an end
to the Marxist dictatorship, the Congress and the Trinamool have
joined hands. It’s time we started another war of independence
to dislodge the CPI(M),’’ she said.
According to Sonia, the Marxists had relegated the state to the
backyard in every sector. ‘‘In every sphere, be it industry,
health, education or any other, the Leftists have failed miserably.
The youth here go to other states to seek employment. This is pathetic.’’
Sonia accused the CPI(M) of being corrupt and said there was no
rule of law in the state. ‘‘No proper audit is done of
government accounts. Law and order is in bad shape and the CPI(M)
blatantly controls the police. In fact, there is no difference between
the party and the government here,’’ she said.
Mamata, in her speech, urged the people of Midnapore to take the
lead in ousting the Marxists from power. She is projected as the
chief ministerial candidate of the Trinamool-Congress alliance.
‘‘Midnapore spearheaded the movement to drive away the
British,’’ she said. ‘‘Now, it’s your turn
to oust the CPI(M) who had indulged in widespread violence in the
district.’’
Accusing the CPI(M) leaders of leading a luxurious life, she said
they want flood and drought to ravage the state so they can squander
the money they receive for relief.
She criticised the CPI(M), particularly former chief minister Jyoti
Basu, for attacking her personally. ‘‘They called me 420
and I said I am actually 440 volt. Now, they call me a beggar,’’
she said.
Sonia landed at the Calcutta airport at 9.40 a.m. and a little later
left for Kharagpur by helicopter along with Congress general-secretary
Kamal Nath and PCC president Pranab Mukherjee.
Mamata too left for Kharagpur by another chopper. After Kharagpur,
the two leaders attended three other rallies — at Burdwan,
Sreerampore in Hooghly district and Ranaghat in Nadia. Tomorrow,
the duo will move to north Bengal.
The rally at Dyan Singh Maidan in Kharagpur was attended by about
25,000 people. They poured in from various areas of Midnapore.
After the rally, Sonia climbed off the stage and went to the crowd
and shook hands with several spectators. She suffered some scratches
on her wrist from the barbed fence around the rally ground.
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