New Delhi:
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying that she makes fake promises. The Congress chief also accused her of running the entire state according to her whims.
"Bengal is being run by just one person. She neither talks to anyone nor takes anybody's suggestion. She does whatever she feels like," Gandhi said while addressing a rally in this town in Malda district.
"Does Bengal not have any voice? Is it not important for Bengal to have its own voice? Should one person be allowed to run an entire state?" he asked.
Gandhi also accused Banerjee of having done nothing for the state's people.
"Nothing has been done for the farmers, youths here. Unemployment is everywhere. Only Mamata ji's speeches go on all day long. Tell me what has she (Banerjee) done for you? Has she revoked the taxes for the farmers? Has she given employment to the youths or helped out the small businessmen?" he questioned while the massive crowd responded with a resounding "No".
People used to be targeted and terrorised under the Left rule and the same continued under the Mamata Banerjee dispensation, he said.
"Congress activists are throttled and beaten up every day... I want to congratulate all our party activists who fight for the politics of principle. I want to tell them to keep fighting for Congress and its ideology. Do not be afraid. I am with you. (We will) form government in Delhi. Then you will see what happens," he said.
He thanked the people of Malda, a traditional Congress bastion, for always standing by his party and assured he will try to fulfil all their wishes.
"I want to thank you because you have always stood with Congress. You have always given us love and support no matter what the condition of the party is. I will not forget this in my entire life. I will remember this when our party forms the government in Delhi.
"I will fulfil all your needs. Be it farmers' issue, issues with jobs or land, I will try to help you out so long I am alive. Our relation is of love, not of politics," he said.
Gandhi's rally in the North Malda constituency, once a Congress bastion, assumes significance as the party is facing an uphill task to hold onto its base due to large-scale defections of party leaders, including its sitting MP Mausam Benazir Noor, to the Trinamool Congress.
Without naming Noor, who is the niece of the late Congress stalwart ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury and has been fielded by the Trinamool Congress this time, Gandhi said she "cheated you by leaving the party" and appealed to the electorate to vote for Congress candidate Isha Khan Chowdhury.
He promised that if his party comes to power, it will bring in the minimum income guarantee scheme.
With Agency Inputs
