West Bengal: As CPM waits for Cong answer, Mamata hits back at Left bloc critics

Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee joined CPM old timers Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury in inviting Congress for an anti-Trinamool alliance to fight the upcoming West Bengal elections but no word from the Congress yet. Political analysts are saying the quiet stems from the contradictions of a possible tie-up here with the Left even as it staves off the same party in Kerala’s election moves. [caption id=“attachment_2485166” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. AFP[/caption] The state Congress unit is against an alliance with TMC while the simultaneous Bengal-Kerala polls make allying with the Left nearly impossible. Fighting alone would mean political suicide since Congress occupies the political fringe in West Bengal. Meanwhile, the BJP is upping its offensive too. Party leader Siddharth Nath Singh it’s now about time for ‘Bhaag Mamata Bhaag’. “The Bharatiya Janata Party will definitely raise its voice if injustice is being done with the people of Bengal. 2016 has arrived, it’s time for ‘Bhaag Mamata Bhaag’,” Singh said. Singh took aim at Mamata over the recent violence in Malda, saying the government of spreading communal hatred in Bengal. Mamata, for her part, is busy deflecting criticism from her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who accused the Trinamool Congress regime of failing to tap investment and create jobs, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her government had enough land to set up industries and so there was no need to acquire land “forcibly”. At an official function here in Birbhum district, Banerjee said: “Land won’t be forcibly acquired as we have one lakh acres of land in our land bank and 5,000 acres at industrial parks for setting up of industries.” “For them (Bhattacharjee), it’s a case of sour grapes. They (Left Front) did nothing during their 34-year rule. Mamata justified the anti-acquisition peasant protests led by her party at Singur where the Communist Party of India-Marxist spearheaded Left Front had acquired land for setting up the Tata Nano small car plant. “We protested in Singur because they killed innocent farmers in the name of industry. We did the right thing.” With Agencies