Stating that both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress are striving to bring about a change from the situation of “disappointment, backwardness and violence” West Bengal finds itself in, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said here on Friday that a “bitter defeat” is awaiting the Left Front in the coming Assembly elections in the State.
At an election rally in support of the Congress candidate from the English Bazar Assembly constituency in Malda district, she appealed to the people to also reject the dissident Congress candidates who were in the fray as Independents having defied the Trinamool-Congress alliance.
Her rally was the last three addressed by her in north Bengal during the day, the earlier two being held at Jalpaiguri town in Jalpaiguri district and Ratua in Malda district.
“With Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee by our side, we want to bring about a change from the disappointment, backwardness and violence prevailing in the State and we are sure of our success. The Left Front will face a bitter defeat at our hands and we appeal to the people to vote in large numbers for candidates supported by the alliance,” she said.
Ms. Gandhi's reference to the dissident candidates comes in the wake of the suspension of 12 local Congress leaders for defying the party line to contest the elections as Independents in seats where the alliance had put up Trinamool nominees.
A couple of senior leaders in the State are also under the AICC's scanner for allegedly supporting the so-called independent candidates and fomenting anti-Trinamool sentiments.
With senior party leaders like Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and leader-in-charge of West Bengal Shakeel Ahmed by her side on the dais, Ms. Gandhi launched a scathing attack against the ruling Left Front government for its alleged failure to bring about development in every sector.
Expressing “sadness” about the current situation in the State that “flourished both culturally and industrially in the past”, she said: “Though the Left Front government had come to power 34 years back by spawning the dream to uplift the condition of marginalised sections, it has actually destroyed the State since. There is not a single section – including farmers and labourers – which has not faced difficulty due to the Left Front's poor governance.”
Claiming that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had never and will not ever discriminate against States in disbursing funds for implementation of social development projects started by the Centre, she accused the Left Front government of failing to utilise the funds.
“Central funds worth thousands of crores of rupees have been sanctioned to the State but it lies unspent. You must ask the government about the fate of those funds,” Ms. Gandhi said.
She slammed the State government's ‘apathy' towards developing an efficient irrigation system in spite of annual droughts and also criticised it for its alleged inability to prepare an all-encompassing Below Poverty Line list and for the complete breakdown of the Public Distribution System.
