Kolkata:
Mamata Banerjee has hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying that in 2006, when she was on a hunger strike on the Singur issue, he had come to Kolkata but not even telephoned her. The West Bengal Chief Minister expressed her grievance in an interview to some local television channels in Kolkata.
"When I was doing a hunger strike on Singur for 26 days, where were they? Even the Prime Minister had come to Kolkata at that time. But he did not even telephone me, in case that upsets the CPM. Remember the CPM was their partner in UPA I. In Nandigram 14 people were killed. They had threatened to kill me but I stood there. Where was the Congress? We had even called a Congress leader on some issue and asked him to help the people. They said that would upset the CPM and they disconnected the phone in fear. Where were they during Singur, Nandigram?" quipped Ms Banerjee.
Ms Banerjee was responding to questions posed about Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh's comment last week where he stated that the credit for bringing a "revolutionary change" in West Bengal goes to Congress as much as to its ally Trinamool Congress.
Lashing out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for overlooking the financial interests of the state, the West Bengal Chief Minister said her party will continue to oppose its "anti-people" policies. "Before the elections, the Prime Minister said he would help. Pranab da held five meetings and you all covered it, made it headlines. But headlines are all we got, Bengal got nothing. But then I am against begging. We believe in holding our heads high. We believe they will immediately do something. Otherwise Bengal's people will extract what is there right," she said.
The Trinamool runs the government in Kolkata in alliance with the Congress - though it is not dependent on the party for numbers in the state assembly. The Congress is the junior partner in the West Bengal government and has five ministers. From the very beginning of the alliance in the state, Congressmen have grumbled about the treatment they have been meted out at the hands of the Trinamool.
Earlier this month, the simmering tension between the two parties turned explosive with Ms Banerjee saying that her alliance partner, who she accused of working with the CPI-M against her, was free to leave.
The Trinamool - which has 20 members in the Lok Sabha and six in the Rajya Sabha - is a key ally of the Congress in the UPA government.
"When I was doing a hunger strike on Singur for 26 days, where were they? Even the Prime Minister had come to Kolkata at that time. But he did not even telephone me, in case that upsets the CPM. Remember the CPM was their partner in UPA I. In Nandigram 14 people were killed. They had threatened to kill me but I stood there. Where was the Congress? We had even called a Congress leader on some issue and asked him to help the people. They said that would upset the CPM and they disconnected the phone in fear. Where were they during Singur, Nandigram?" quipped Ms Banerjee.
Ms Banerjee was responding to questions posed about Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh's comment last week where he stated that the credit for bringing a "revolutionary change" in West Bengal goes to Congress as much as to its ally Trinamool Congress.
Lashing out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for overlooking the financial interests of the state, the West Bengal Chief Minister said her party will continue to oppose its "anti-people" policies. "Before the elections, the Prime Minister said he would help. Pranab da held five meetings and you all covered it, made it headlines. But headlines are all we got, Bengal got nothing. But then I am against begging. We believe in holding our heads high. We believe they will immediately do something. Otherwise Bengal's people will extract what is there right," she said.
The Trinamool runs the government in Kolkata in alliance with the Congress - though it is not dependent on the party for numbers in the state assembly. The Congress is the junior partner in the West Bengal government and has five ministers. From the very beginning of the alliance in the state, Congressmen have grumbled about the treatment they have been meted out at the hands of the Trinamool.
Earlier this month, the simmering tension between the two parties turned explosive with Ms Banerjee saying that her alliance partner, who she accused of working with the CPI-M against her, was free to leave.
The Trinamool - which has 20 members in the Lok Sabha and six in the Rajya Sabha - is a key ally of the Congress in the UPA government.
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