CALCUTTA, DEC 19: Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee charged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition with the lack of political will to expose the corruption of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front Government in West Bengal.``The Government is weak and that is the reason why they haven't yet probed into corruption charges against the CPI (M)-led Left Front Government in West Bengal,'' she said. She told reporters here this evening, ``I cannot blame the people of West Bengal who might have started thinking we have failed on this score again,'' adding, ``But we have not given in to this lack of political will and we will take up the issue of various corruption charges lying against the LF Government, deteriorating law and order situation in the State and the Trinamool Congress' Bengal Package when we have our next meeting with the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.''
However, she said there were cases of corruption in court and the Centre could act as the matters were sub-judice.``But there are cases of corruption, including our charges against the West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, which the Centre has not taken up as yet,'' she admitted.
Hinting at the party's agenda for next year, she said throughout the year the Trinamool Congress will try to unite all anti-CPI (M) forces in the State, adding, ``We will face CPI (M) in the next Assembly elections unitedly.''
The `Front' would include Left parties which want to end the `CPI (M) misrule,' Banerjee said. However, she refused to disclose if she got assurances from some of the anti-CPI (M) Left organisations.
Incidentally, Banerjee has convened a second meeting of the Progressive Alliance comprising leaders like Suresh Kalmadi and Naresh Aggarwal of the Loktantrik Congress. The Arunachal Pradesh Congress, Rajiv Congress and the Haryana Lok Dal have reportedly sent feelers saying they might attend the Alliance's second meeting on December 22 in Delhi.
She said the party's brigade rally scheduled on February 17, will beattended by Chief Ministers of different states. She said the rally ``will set the agenda for the next year's political programmes,'' she said.But before that, ``we would like to have our Bengal Package implemented by the Centre,'' she said. Saying that her ``party will never support any CPI(M)-like policies only politics and no development,'' Banerjee added that the CPI (M) has pushed the State's economy to a standstill.
She said there was some misunderstanding in the coalition earlier that some of her political stands, like withdrawing from the coalition's coordination committee, were designed to embarrass the BJP-led coalition.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.