Mamata warns govt not to forget 'Lakshman Rekha' of alliance

Kolkata: In an indirect attack at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said political leaders should be more bothered about the common people rather than winning personal laurels. Infuriated over the twin “anti-people” decisions - hike in diesel prices and nod to FDI in retail - Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress is the United Progressive Alliance’s second largest constituent, reminded the Congress not to cross the “Lakshman Rekha” (red line). [caption id=“attachment_457239” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] “We are not in favour of toppling the government. But they should not forget the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ of the alliance. We will not agree with any anti-people decisions. We have given 72-hour deadline to rethink… if you roll back, it’s good. But if not, then be ready to face the consequences,” she said, addressing a protest rally here. “I don’t agree with such economic reforms which are anti-people because I believe in grass root reforms which concern the masses. Leaders should stop taking decisions which help only four-five people for gaining personal laurels from handful of people. It is a matter of entire country,” said Banerjee. “Everybody should think about the common masses of the country rather than the creamy section of the society. Because creamy section makes one percent and common masses make the rest 99 percent of the population,” she said. The government Thursday announced a hike in diesel price by Rs.5 a litre and capped supply of subsidised cooking gas cylinders per family to six per year. The next day, it decided to allow up to 51 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The entire industrial community has hailed Manmohan Singh’s - who has often been credited as the father of economic reforms of 1991 - bold decisions to allow FDI in retail FDI and to hike diesel price. IANS