With the possibility of an alliance with the Congress hitting the sub-zero level, the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday launched a multi-pronged attack against its former UPA big brother with two of its topmost most leaders: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Mukul Roy leading the diatribe.
To begin with, the Bengal ruling outfit threw out the Railway Budget as an “expression of immorality” as the UPA Government which was almost “dead and gone” had no moral right to place it in the first place. Dubbing the Congress-led alliance a con artist of the first order Roy a former Railway Minister said “by placing the Railway Budget the UPA Government has not only cheated the people of Bengal but the entire country as a vote on account is no Budget at all.”
As the UPA-II was on its way out and the real Budget would be placed by the next Government “they have no right to place the Budget which is direction less and devoid of content.” Junior Railway Minister Adhir Chowdhury who is also the new Bengal Pradesh Congress president immediately reacted to Roy’s broadside saying “they have gone berserk with our achievement as we are leaving a richer Railway Ministry than they did” and wondering whether giving 11 trains to Bengal amounted to cheating the people of this State.
Elsewhere in Siliguri the Chief Minister who was holding a meeting in the newly constructed North Bengal State Secretariat — christened “Uttar Kanya” — said, the people of her State would even out things with the Congress for its betrayal with Bengal. launching a direct attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for going back on his promises the Chief Minister said before her Government came to power in Bengal, Singh had promised her State all help in getting over its financial crisis “but he has not kept his word.”
Banerjee said that the “Prime Minister had promised me that he will help in restructuring Bengal’s debts but even after almost three years he has done nothing” adding people of Bengal have been cheated. “The people here are feeling cheated and they will get even with the UPA in equal measure in another a few months” she said adding the current Government had “only a few days left in its life.”