She is a liar, Buddhadeb says of Mamata

KOLKATA - Without naming arch rival Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Friday said that false allegations by her against the ruling Marxists had forced him “to call her a liar”.

I am into politics for a long time. I had political differences with many leaders but I have never called anybody a liar. But this time in order to counter the unprecedented false allegations raised by her I had to call her a liar, Bhattacharjee said in an interview to a private Bengali news channel.

Earlier last month while addressing public rallies Bhattacharjee without naming Banerjee, who is also the railway minister, had repeatedly called her a liar and said that she never speaks the truth. Bhattacharjees comment had created a political furore in the state.

“Before the civic elections a fire broke out at Park Street and she alleged that we have done it. It is a sheer lie. Then she told that we are trying to spread communal riots in the city, which was again a false allegation. Then she created a record of saying lies by saying that the CPI-M is behind Gyaneshwari Express accident and Sainthia train accident, which is the biggest lie I have ever heard. These are the reasons that have forced me to call her a liar, said the chief minister.

More than 200 people were killed in the Gyaneshwari Express and Sainthia train accidents and Banerjee had repeatedly alleged that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) was behind the attacks.

She was well aware of the fact that the Maoists have perpetuated the Gyaneshwari Express accident but in order to shield them she is spreading lies against us. We cannot tolerate such things, said Bhattacharjee.

He also took a dig at Banerjee for inaugurating railway projects without having proper financial backing.

In the last few months I am watching that there are inaugurations and inaugurations. But I would like to ask what is the future of these projects, as 90 percent of the projects dont have budgetary support, said Bhattacharjee.

People want better performance of railways in terms of passenger security and passenger service. But people are not getting it, he said.