West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said no amount of negative publicity would deter her from her goal of bringing development for the people.
"No one can deter Mamata Banerjee in serving you. I will prove to those who are out to tarnish our government through a campaign of lies, wrong. No amount of browbeating or propaganda will help," Ms Banerjee said, accusing a section of the media of painting a bad picture of her government.
Singling out two news channels, she alleged that they were dishing out lies daily and listed a number of channels that should be watched. She said canards were being spread when she was making tireless efforts to restore the past glory of West Bengal which was ruined during the 34 years of Left rule.
"I do not care about fingers pointed against me. I do not care for anybody. I only care for Ma, Mati, Manush of Bengal," Ms Banerjee told a rally in North 24 Parganas district. Ms Banerjee, who has been named among the 100 most influential people in the world by the Time magazine in its 2012 list lamented that one did not get due respect at home. .
Stating that many wanted the government to forcibly acquire land of farmers, allow Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to come up again and lift the land ceiling, she said "I will never do so. The people of Bengal do not believe land mafias and looters. The day Ma, Mati, Manush will tell me that I am unable to run the government, I will quit. I will not cling to the chair like the Communist Party of India (Marxist). I do not have lust for power," Ms Banerjee said. "I have no family. The people are my family. I have come here after giving blood for the cause of the people."
She said that critics of her government were not comfortable with peace returning to Junglemahal and in Darjeeling. Listing her government's achievements, she said, "We have done in ten months work of ten years. What we will do in five years will cause the Communist Party of India (Marxist) heartburn." Facing criticism for evicting slum dwellers from Nonadanga on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, she put the blame on Non-Government Organistations (NGOs) for the anti-eviction movement. Molecular biologist Partha Sarothi Roy was among those arrested along with 68 others. He was released after spending 10 days in jail.
"We don't want to hurt hawkers and slum dwellers. Some Non-Government Organistations (NGOs) have taken money from those with vested interests and have brought people from outside to create problems. They are exploiting local people here." Inaugurating a number of projects, Ms Banerjee said besides bringing in Rs 40,000 crore in investments to the cash-strapped exchequer, the government created jobs for 2,75,000 people, while the private sector gave jobs to 2,50,000 job seekers. Ms Banerjee said 1,50,000 people have got work under the state insurance scheme.