BJP leaders are liars: CM

ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY, TT, Birpara, April 27: Mamata Banerjee today called BJP leaders "liars" as the chief minister continued her diatribe against the party that has been seeking to rebound in Bengal and dislodge Trinamul from power.

"Do not support the BJP. After winning elections, the party cheats common people. They are liars. It is the CPM which brought the BJP to the state and is now helping the party develop its base here. The BJP always tries to create differences among people of different castes," she told a gathering of around 25,000 people at the Circus Ground here.

The chief minister was in Birpara to hand over benefits under different social welfare schemes of the state government to people.

"Don't fall prey to them (BJP). Don't join the BJP because it will ditch you later. The party leaders take lunch on banana leaf and stay at five-star hotels at night. This proves their double standards. Those who cannot control a small state like Gujarat have come here to advise us. In all parameters, including employment generation, Bengal is much ahead of Gujarat," Mamata said.

The BJP national president, Amit Shah, had taken lunch on banana leaf at a tribal family's home in Naxalbari block on Tuesday. He ended his three-day trip to Bengal and left for Delhi this evening.

Mamata has been tossing verbal volleys at the BJP in a consistent manner during her ongoing trip to north Bengal.

The chief minister also referred to the BJP's win of Madarihat seat in the last Assembly polls.

"We lost here. Even then, I have come here to make people understand that BJP leaders are liars and give false promises ahead of elections. The BJP uses ED (Enforcement Directorate) to arrest Trinamul leaders as they want to create disturbances in Bengal. However, they can never intimidate me," she said.

Birpara, which is around 60km from Alipurduar, falls under Madarihat Assembly segment. Its believed that the victory the BJP's Manoj Tigga from Madarihat is one of the reasons that prompted Mamata to give away doles to the people at Birpara today.

Today, Mamata announced that non workers of tea estates would also get rations at subsidised rates. "What all they have to do is to fill a form and submit it," she said.

The chief minister said the government land on which some people were living in Alipurduar town and in some areas of Falakata would be leased out to them.

At the last public meeting during the chief minister's current trip to north Bengal, she spoke on the Teesta water sharing issue again. "We will give water (to Bangladesh) but it is our prerogative to decide from which river we will provide water. We cannot take any decision that can affect the life of people in this part of Bengal," she said.