We will not blackmail UPA, says Mamata

KOLKATA - Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Saturday said her party wanted the truth to come out in the 2G spectrum scam but would not “blackmail” or topple the United Progressive Alliance government on the issue.

“We have no problem with investigation into the matter. Allegations are flying. We want the truth to come out. And we will be happy when there is a solution,” Banerjee told media persons here.

“But that doesn’t mean we will go for blackmailing and toppling the government,” Banerjee said.

The railway minister said her party was committed to supporting the UPA for the full five-year term and would keep its commitment.

Banerjee also ridiculed the Left parties for demanding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speak out on the issue.

“They want the PM to reply, and the PM to resign on the basis of the Comptroller and Auditor General report. But what have the Left done in this state? They have till today never allowed any discussion on the CAG report in the assembly,” she said.

Attacking the Left parties for joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to stall parliament working on the 2G issue, Banerjee said: “The Left and the BJP are always together. In every election, the CPI-M enters into an arrangement with the BJP to split Hindu votes. In the Muslim areas, the CPI-M enters into the same kind of arrangement with the Muslim League,” she alleged.

Banerjee, who had earlier refused to answer questions from state Housing Minister Gautam Deb on the Rajarhat land acquisition issue saying he does not fall in her category, reiterated her stand.

“I won’t answer all ministers. If somebody falls in A or A1 class, then I will reply. If there is someone from the B class, then someone else in our party will reply. This is the rule and protocol of politics,” she said.

Banerjee asked the peasants of Rajarhat in the city’s north eastern fringes to stand up to the government’s efforts to “grab more land”. “No more land acquisition will be allowed,” she said.

Spelling out her position on the pending land acquisition amendment bill, she said no land could be forcibly acquired. “if land is needed for public purpose, then there should be an amicable settlement between the government and the landowners.”

Banerjee said apart from one member of each family losing their land being given government job, ten percent of the land should be returned to the agricultural workers and sharecroppers.