West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said her party would contest on its own. (PTI file photo)
Gunning for the Congress-Left alliance in the upcoming Assembly election in West Bengal, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today asked grass roots workers of the two parties whether they would support the "unprincipled" tie-up.
"I would like to ask the grass roots level workers of Congress and CPI(M) whether they will support this unprincipled alliance. They have to decide," Ms Banerjee told an election meeting in this Congress stronghold.
Ms Banerjee said her party would contest on its own and the "people are with us. We were with the people, we are with the people and we will be with the people."
However, she said, "I am happy that instead of playing hide and seek, Congress and CPI(M) have tied up. This is nothing new. The Congress has worked with the CPI(M) in the state Assembly".
Hammering the Congress, she said, "We have unmasked them. Because of this mask that they wore, we had broken away to form the Trinamool Congress. We were the first to show that the Congress was sold out to CPI(M)."
Ms Banerjee said that in the 2011 Assembly elections her party workers had worked tirelessly in favour of Congress candidates, but Congress had put up independent candidates to defeat Trinamool candidates.
Sounding confident, she said that not only would the Trinamool Congress return to power after the coming election, they would win all elections till 2022.
"From the hills to the sea, we have worked and that is why people of the state are happy. But our rivals are busy finding faults with us. They are scared to fight us politically," Ms Banerjee said.