CM's zamindar jibe

Mamata at the meeting on Tuesday. (Bishwarup Dutta)

TT, Calcutta: Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday lashed out at the Centre on various issues, from allocation of funds to treatment of minorities, a day after the BJP had accused her government of hijacking central schemes to claim credit.

"The Centre, when it gives funds, makes it feel like a zamindar handing out charity. The Centre takes away tens of thousands of crores in the form of taxes from us, giving us back only a fraction. It gives us a small share of our own money," she said.

Mamata was speaking at an event conducted by the state minority affairs and madarsa education department.

The chief minister questioned the saffron camp's allegedly divisive politics and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi without taking his name.

"A person who can take everyone along is a leader of the nation. Gandhiji was, Netaji was.... The one who divides a country is a leader of the chair only, not a true leader. He is here today and will be gone tomorrow, discarded and forgotten by the people," she said.

"This state has 31 per cent minorities, 23.9 per cent Scheduled Castes, 5.9 per cent Scheduled Tribes, 38 per cent Other Backward Classes.... They dare to dictate to us whom we should address and whom we shouldn't. They are actually delusional enough to expect that we will listen to whatever they have to say," Mamata added.