‘Trinamool showing mercy by not seeking President’s Rule’

KOLKATA - Holding Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) squarely responsible for the ills plaguing West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Thursday said her party was showing mercy to the ruling party by not pressing hard on its demand for president’s rule.

“The state is a fit case for president’s rule. But the communists are still in power because we are showing mercy to them by not seeking President’s Rule,” Banerjee said at a rally in Dum Dum here.

“The CPI-M came in power in 1977 through an election that was conducted under President’s rule. Even in Tripura they came to power in an identical way. For them anything is right when it benefits them. And when we voiced the demand for President’s rule they took it as an affront,” she added.

She alleged the CPI-M was resorting to “political terrorism” to disrupt the railways and tarnish her image.

“The CPI-M incited their loyalists to ransack and damage a portion of the Howrah station Wednesday after a local train reached late. It was pre-planned. Otherwise how could the mob have bricks and logs inside the station premises?” she asked.

“We have to fight the CPI-M democratically and politically. We will not indulge in violence to counter the CPI-M.”