E-Paper
2 more party workers dead, Mamata slams Lalgarh policy
A day after Maoists killed two Trinamool Congress workers, party chief Mamata Banerjee slammed the Centre for not coming down hard on the Bengal government for its failure to rein in the ultras.
A day after Maoists killed two Trinamool Congress workers, party chief Mamata Banerjee slammed the Centre for not coming down hard on the Bengal government for its failure to rein in the ultras.
Mamata said she would mobilise people’s support to isolate the Maoists in the districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. She announced a series of political meetings and processions in the three districts from January 15.
“It seems neither the Centre nor the state are serious about the Maoist problem.”
However, the railway minister said she would not walk out of the alliance. “We are committed to the people who want the alliance to continue,” she said.
The Maoist reaction was swift. CPI(Maoist) politburo member Kishenji sent a fax to newspaper offices that read: “Mamata has perfected the skill of shifting her stance and performing somersaults.”
According to Mamata, the Centre’s first blunder was to launch the security operation with the Left government without consulting her party. “Since we are extending support, isn’t it in the fitness of things that the Centre listen to us and check the Maoists?” she said.
In the last few months, she said, Maoists have killed more than 200 Trinamool workers in Lalgarh alone.
