"Rajiv Gandhi had once said Kolkata was a dying city. And you remember what happened (in elections) after that. Now his son is echoing similar things about Bengal."
The comments came from CPM leader Sitaram Yechury when he was asked to respond to Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the performance of the Left Front government in West Bengal. He said the Left had swept to power after Rajiv's remarks then.
Noting that everyone has a right to have their own opinion and "so does Rahul", the Left leader said the fact that the people of Bengal have elected the Left seven times in a row "merits a re-thinking" among the critics.
"Why are the people continuing to impose faith in the Left. If you say they are doing so for the wrong reasons, then it tantamount to insulting the people of Bengal," he said.
Observing that seven assembly elections implied that three generations had voted the Left to power, Yechury said the yardstick in a democracy should be the people's response to the performance of the government in elections.
Regarding the economic situation in the state, Yechury said while Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia in a study on states' performances had ranked Bengal among the top three, World Bank has said in a report that population below poverty line had declined in the state.
"You too won't agree that Ahluwalia is a Left spokesman or the World Bank a Left body," he said.
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