Bengal Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury on Tuesday launched a vitriolic attack on Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for “hiding behind social activists and religious leaders” instead of confronting the people and appealing them to vote for her party at the hustings.
Pooh-poohing the Chief Minister for seeking the blessings not of the people but of social activists and religious persons, the junior Railway Minister said, “It seems that she has lost faith in the people who voted her to power and so she is now seeking protection of the Imams and social activists” to champion her cause in the elections.
Apart from activists, Anna Hazare and Mahasweta Devi have backed Banerjee’s cause to the extent of desiring a prime ministerial assignment, her clerics like Shahi Imams of Delhi’s Jama Masjid — Sd Ahmed Bukhari — and Kolkata’s Tipu Sultan Mosque — Sd Noor Ur Rehman Barkati — have also thrown their weight behind her.
However, allergic towards Anna, the Delhi Imam has refused to join the Mamata in her March 12 rally scheduled to be held at the Ramlila Ground. In the Delhi rally, Banerjee is likely to launch her national campaign and express her pan-Indian aspirations, party insiders say. Besides, she is likely to announce her 17-point agenda which has been jointly worked out with Hazare.
Taking a dig at Banerjee for losing faith in the people, Chowdhury said people who brought her to power had read into her false promises and were gradually losing faith in her making her to desperately seek the blessings of the clerics and activists.