As the West Bengal Assembly polls draw near, Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee used yet another official function organised by her Ministry here on Sunday to deride Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and accuse his government of “using bullets” in its attempts to set up industries.
Ms. Banerjee claimed that the Railways took the initiative for setting up 16 factories across the State during her tenure in office over the past one year and eight months. This was done “without killing anyone.” “I am not in favour of setting up industries with the help of bullets; we have a land bank for the purpose [of identifying their location]…unlike what was done in Singur,” she said.
She rejected the Chief Minister's charge that despite her regular announcement of new Railway projects there was little to show that they had taken off. “It is only after the projects are cleared, I inaugurate them and not before.”
On the criticism of the plethora of advertisements her Ministry brings out with each project she inaugurates, Ms Banerjee said: “I tell the Communist Party of India (Marxist) ‘you attack me but do not attack the Railways, which is a government organisation'.”
