Mamata exudes confidence in Siliguri meeting

She was addressing a meeting at Siliguri on Monday afternoon.

The alliance between Congress and CPI(M) received inspiration  to go for a tie-up in the Assembly polls  after the duo’s victory in Siliguri Municipal Corporation headed by former Urban Development minister Ashok Bhattacharya and this in political parlance is known as the“ Siliguri line.”

With this backdrop Banerjee’s meeting is politically very significant. Trinamool Congress has fielded the former Indian football captain Bichung Bhutia against Ashok Bhattacharya here.

Clarifying why Bhutia was fielded from Siliguri and not from Darjeeling she said the city was full of sports lovers who back sports personalities. She maintained that Bhutia would win and defeat the alliance.

Criticising CPI(M) she said the party’s slogan to back Gorkhaland was fresh in the minds of people. 

“CPI(M) believes in divide and rule and had ruined peace in the hills. The party leaders from Kolkata are trying to get in touch with Bimal Gurung, GJMM leader and are making attempt to destabilise the hills. But their efforts will not be successful and Darjeeling will be a part of West Bengal,” she said.

Banerjee said that the Opposition did not have any political issue and that was why they were spreading canard against the party.” CPI(M) is against any kind of development and in the past 34 years they did not do anything except killing thousands of people, ” she said.

Banerjee said all out development had been carried out in the hills in the past four and a half years. She said that people were getting free medical treatment in the state run hospitals and there were fair price shops. 

Kanyashree and Sabuj Sathi had become immensely popular. The people are getting rice at Rs 2 per kg. The schemes meant for the backward classes and minorities had helped them to move forward.

She said within May, all the rural homes in Siliguri would get electric connection. 

The highway will establish links with Bhutan and other North-Eastern states. She said that North Bengal was coming up as a major tourist spot. 

The safari park has already attracted people and Gajoldoba is coming up as a major tourist attraction where tourists will be able to see snow clad peaks, rivers and forest.

Banerjee said that the State government had set up a corpus of Rs 100 crore to help the workers of closed tea gardens. “Development will help us to come back to power and in the next five years even more development will take place.”