The Congress was forced to oppose the Trinamool Congress at many places in the coming municipal elections in West Bengal as the latter was a violent political party without any agenda or sense of purpose, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Sunday.
At a press conference, Mr. Bhattacharjee said, “We have had several experiences of alliances between Opposition parties. There have been situations where alliances have been there and when they have failed. But in this instance where the Congress is opposing the Trinamool at many places, one thing that has become clear is that the Congress has been forced to do so.”
He said the Trinamool Congress was a force that believed in violence. It neither had an agenda nor intent. That party's agenda was divorced from reality and was not based on policy or thinking.
Stressing on the Left Front's agenda of development for the coming elections, he said the process of industrialisation was on track despite the obstructionist view of the Trinamool Congress. The year 2009-10 saw an investment of Rs. 7,000 crore into industries in the State.
Mr. Bhattacharjee also criticised the UPA government at the Centre. He said it was not adequately dealing with the problem of price rise. He reiterated the demand of State governments of allocating 50 per cent of the taxes collected to them instead of the existing 32 per cent.
The Left parties would fare much better in the coming elections than the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. “Even though a large section of the electorate voted against us in the Lok Sabha elections, the people have also experienced its consequence for one year. Public opinion is not stagnant,” he said.
