Martyrs' Day rally in West Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress for “being a party of grotesque lies and slander,” describing its chief Mamata Banerjee a “practised liar who utters falsehoods every single day.”

“Here is a political party [Trinamool Congress] that is surviving on lies….How long will the people of West Bengal accept these lies? I believe that they will on no account accept the grotesque lies and slander of this party,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said at a Martyrs' Day rally to commemorate the death of 80 supporters of Left parties in a protest demanding food in the city in 1959.

Cites examples

Mr. Bhattacharjee cited several examples of “unfounded claims” made by Ms. Banerjee _ the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was responsible for incidents such as the devastating fire at the Stephen Court, the Jnaneswari Express derailment, the accident in Sainthia and the disruption in her convoy on her return from Lalgarh.

“Lies, all lies,” he emphatically declared to a stadium full of supporters, who responded with a thundering applause.

‘Party sans agenda'

The Trinamool was a party “without a policy or agenda” and it solely depended on Ms. Banerjee's word. The State had already suffered many losses because of them, Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

Referring to the Trinamool-led agitations in Singur and Nandigram, he said: “Everyone in 

West Bengal knows the losses that the State has suffered. Shall we accept more of these injustices? The nexus between the Trinamool and Maoists began in Nandigram where we could not defeat them and had to retreat……It will have to be seen if we can limit them to the Jangalmahal region or will the joint army of the Trinamool and Maoists convert all of West Bengal into Jangalmahal.”

“We will set it right”

Several people in the State had begun to believe in the lies being spread by the Trinamool and it was the responsibility of the supporters of Left parties to reach out to them and convince them otherwise, he added.

Chairman of the State Left Front Committee Biman Bose said the Trinamool was trying to project themselves as “friends of the poor,” but instead were representing the interests of landlords and the old order.