Didi shows grace, CPM trapped in Lenin era...arson and loot in tripura

Mamata at the public meeting in Bankura’s Patrasayar on Tuesday. Picture by Rupesh Khan 

TT, Calcutta: Mamata Banerjee, keen to overcome differences and unite forces against the saffron juggernaut, on Tuesday stood by archrival CPM and condemned the bulldozing of a Lenin statue in Tripura, but the Marxists insisted sarcastically that it was she who needed them to resist the BJP.

"I am against the CPM. Marx, Lenin or Stalin are not my icons. I have a long track-record of ideologically fighting the CPM. Here too, we came to power after 34 years but our motto was 'change, not revenge'," the Bengal chief minister and Trinamul chief said at a public meeting in Bankura's Patrasayar.

Since the CPM's rout in the Tripura elections on Saturday at the hands of the BJP, Mamata has issued statements construed as favourable to the Marxists. This has invited jibes from state BJP leaders that the defeat had hurt her more than those at Alimuddin Street - the headquarters of the Bengal CPM.

"What kind of politics is this? Today it is Marx and Lenin, tomorrow it will be Gandhiji, Netaji, Swamiji, Tagore or Birsa Munda....As long as I am alive, even if I am the only one protesting, I will continue to do so," Mamata said on Tuesday.

The statement came amid allegations of violence, arson and loot in Tripura by alleged supporters of the victorious BJP. "Being able to form a government does not give you the right to raze statues of great men or attack political opponents, murder them....This is not done. Once I had stood up to the CPM's atrocities. I will also stand up to the BJP's atrocities....What is happening there (in Tripura) cannot be called democracy," Mamata said in Bankura.

The Marxists dismissed Mamata's comments with a jibe about her "waning" political fortunes, even though she extended the olive branch while enjoying total political domination in Bengal.

CPM central committee member Gautam Deb claimed Mamata would soon have to knock on Alimuddin Street's doors for survival. "Mamata's days are numbered. Fear has gripped her and if she loses elections, she will be finished," Deb said at a rally in Calcutta on Tuesday to protest the razing of the Lenin statue.

Asked what the CPM would do if Mamata came knocking, Deb said: "We will decide when she comes. I am always there for Mamata."

A senior Trinamul leader seized on the remarks to accuse the CPM of "cockiness" in the Marxists' "darkest hour". "This is the hubris she has been accusing the CPM of. Even on a day like this, they had to reply with sarcasm. Even a child understands that she doesn't need them, they need her."

The leader pointed out that Mamata - who has been trying to reach out to non-BJP regional forces to stitch together a national coalition against the saffron camp ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year - had made it clear that she was not averse to the CPM joining the platform.

Deb didn't rule out the possibility of all anti-BJP forces, including Trinamul, uniting. "There is nothing called a permanent impossibility in politics. Yes, from Trinamul to Congress, everyone can join this fight against the greatest, common enemy," Deb said.