Kolkata:
The war of words between West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is getting uglier by the day.
At a public rally in Kolkata, the chief minister slammed her for fanning separatist fires in the hills of Darjeeling during her recent visit there and also said her claims of developing the railways was only on paper.
"What are they up to? Sometimes they hold hands with the Maoists. Sometimes they go and hold hands in the hills with whom? She wants to set fire to the hills. She wants to divide the hills (and Bengal). She goes and holds hands with those elements. Why did she go to hills? Who listens to her?
"She is doing things for the Railways, she claims. The only thing happening in Railways is newspaper advertisements. It's a tamasha. Every day one new train. It's a tamasha. Who knows where the trains are going from and where? Every day lies, every day newspaper ads worth lakhs of rupees," he said.
Within an hour, Mamata Banerjee called a press conference and offered Buddhadeb a new pair of spectacles to see all the development work that she was doing.
"The people of the hills want peace. The day I went, CPM put up big hoardings in Siliguri's Darjeeling. Many are saying that I'm going to set fire to the hills. It has been more than 72 hours since I returned and don't you see that the hills are peaceful? Hills want peace the CPM doesn't.
"The chief minister says he cannot see anything about Railways' development. Why doesn't he look at some papers? He can't see anything? Have his eyes gone bad? A lot of work is going on and he can't see? The trains are coming and going, can't he see? When a new train starts, there is a notification, a name, a number, timing, tickets. What can I do? I can give him a gift of some spectacles, the spectacle of development."
Clearly the gloves are off and the slugfest is likely to get worse as the elections approach.