Sonia addresses meeting in North 24 Parganas

In yet another act of rumour-mongering against Trinamool Congress, Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said the rice production in the state had fallen; in reality, West Bengal produces the highest quantity of rice in the country.

Gandhi was addressing a rally at Canning Tuesday afternoon. Though she had earlier shown reservation in sharing the dais with Left Front leaders and no CPI(M) leader was invited in the meeting she had addressed in Sujapur in Malda last month, this time CPI(M) state committee member Sujan Chakraborty was present on the dais. Calling BJP and Trinamool Congress as two sides of the same coin, she said the arrogance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mamata was dangerous for parliamentary democracy in the country. “Both are undemocratic, and to restore democracy in West Bengal, Congress has made alliance with CPI(M),” said Gandhi.

In the 2011 Assembly election, Congress had tied up with TMC. “But after the elections were over Mamata started backstabbing Congress and we broke the alliance. We had helped her to come to power,” claimed Gandhi.

The Congress chief accused Banerjee of failing to meet the aspirations of people. “Nothing has been done to keep the interest of poor people intact. Also, no scheme has been taken to look after unemployed youth. Mamata has failed to keep promises and the law and order situation in the state has deteriorated. The women are not safe in Bengal anymore,” she remarked. She added that corruption was rampant in Bengal and a secular and democratic alliance was the only viable alternative.

Criticising Modi, she said he did not listen to the poor and had failed to bring black money from abroad. She alleged that Modi and Mamata had a tacit understanding and this nexus should be broken. She urged people to vote for the alliance for a stable pro-poor government.