Describing the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal as a “nightmare” and the Trinamool’s five-year regime as one of “disillusionment”, Union Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said here on Sunday that the BJP would emerge as a strong force in the State in the Assembly polls.
Launching a frontal attack on the Trinamool on the issue of corruption, he denied the Congress-Left charge of “match fixing” between it and the BJP. “These are baseless allegations. On what basis are they saying that,” Mr. Jaitley said.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Anand Sharma too said that though Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee were attacking each other there was a “match fixing” between them as they were working together in Parliament.
Mr. Jaitley also raised issues such as the corrupt syndicate business operating in West Bengal. Asked whether the Centre would start a probe into it, Mr. Jaitley replied: “Syndicate Raj has to be eliminated by good governance at the State level.”
Contending that West Bengal was yearning for an alternative after 34 years of the Left and five years of the Trinamool, Mr. Jaitley said that politics in Bengal was at a crossroads and “BJP on its own will give an alternative”.
Speaking to journalists, he underlined the “vulnerability of the Trinamool” to corruption, and said that one could find corruption in every transaction of that party.
However, when asked if the Centre would take up the issue, he said: “Law and order and investigation of corruption are State subjects.”
Asked about the praises he heaped on the Trinamool government during his earlier visits to the State, he said he was maintaining the “Constitutional relationship” between the State and the Centre. The BJP leader also took on the Congress, which has allied with the Left Front in the Assembly polls. “Congress’ policies are opportunist. They are fighting battle for their survival,” he said.
