The State leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has ridiculed the purported intentions of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to establish peace in the Darjeeling hills when her party was “bent on subverting the democratic process and creating anarchy in the rest of West Bengal.”
Ms. Banerjee arrived in Darjeeling on Sunday on a two-day visit to the hill-town.
“She is there wherever there are killings, disturbances and political unrest, whether it be Lalgarh and now Darjeeling,” Mohammed Salim, a member of the CPI(M)'s central committee told a rally organised by the Kolkata district Left Front committee here.
The rally was preceded by processions condemning the Centre's failure to check the spiralling prices of essential commodities as well as the Trinamool Congress-Maoist ‘nexus' which aimed at creating “lawlessness and terror in the State.”
Ms. Banerjee is visiting the hills when things have started improving in the wake of the dialogue process involving the Centre.
Her visit has been welcomed by forces out to sever Darjeeling from the rest of the State and create a division between people of the hills and the plains, Mr. Salim charged. Biman Bose, State Secretary of the CPI(M), also came down strongly on Ms. Banerjee for “making false promises” and “deceiving the people in order to win over their minds, though temporarily.”
“Ever since she became the Railway Minister she is speaking of setting up factories at various places. But I would like to know of at least one place where work to set up one has begun,” he said.
“The Railway Ministry cannot be a universal provider. If that were so, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could well wind up all the other Ministries leaving it to the Railway Ministry to cater to all the needs of the country and its people,” Mr. Bose added.
