Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday urged the people who had voted against the Left Front to make a “judgment between the time they spent under the Left regime and the time they are now spending under the Trinamul Congress-led government.” Taking a pot-shot at the alliance government, Mr Bhattacharjee said that the new government has so far presented “an unique style of functioning where extorting money from school teachers, presenting budget without any deliberation over it, evicting farmers from their land, attacking the Opposition in districts and allowing the Maoists to regain their lost turf have become a routine of the day.”
Criticising the Mamata Banerjee-led (without taking her name) government “for unleashing a reign of terror,” Mr Bhattacharjee said: “Besides attacking the Opposition, this party (read: Trinamul Congress) is not even sparing its alliance partner. The Congress is also feeling the heat and has been left at its mercy in the districts.”
He asked: “What kind of changes it has brought in? Is it the plundering of land once given by us to the landless farmers?”
Is it extorting money from school teachers and bank employees? Evicting people just because they are supporters of the Left?”
The former chief minister also came down heavily on the government’s functioning as he said: “It is amazing: a budget was passed but no one knows how much money the departments will get. Even the Opposition was not allowed to deliberate over it.”
Exhorting party ranks to “be more alert, aware and united in this hour of crisis,” Mr Bhattacharjee said: “Go to the people to make them aware of the difference (style of functioning) between the past (the Left) and the present (the Trinamul-led) governments.”