February 26, 2014
Trinamool Chairperson slams Congress for lack of development in Assam
Trinamool Chairperson, in her speech at Martyrs` Day rally on January 30, had said that the party will contest elections across India. Eventually, veteran social activist Anna Hazare extended his support to Mamata Banerjee and at a joint press conference in New Delhi on February 19, they announced that Didi and Anna ji will be campaigning together for Lok Sabha elections.
Keeping her word of visiting other states for a national campaign, Trinamool Chairperson kick-started the campaign trail from the North Eastern state of Tripura. After holding a massive public rally in Agartala on February 25, Trinamool Chief visited Assam on February 26. Her rally at Guwahati saw a huge turnout. Speaking in Bangla, Assamese and Hindi, Didi asked people of Assam to vote for change in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In her trademark style, Trinamool Chief slammed the State Govt of Assam for failing to provide basic services to the people. She said that people of Assam have voted for Congress in local as well national elections, Assam even gave India the Prime Minister. But what did the state get in return?
Trinamool Chief criticised Congress government`s mishandling of riots in the state too. She said when Assam was burning and people fled the state, Bengal gave refuge to everyone with open arms. She also slammed in the inefficiency with which the state government handled the floods every year.
Citing the example of Bengal`s land banks, the West Bengal Chief Minister promised to legislate a new land policy where the Government will have no role in acquisition and forcible acquisition of land will be completely banned. She lent her support to the land movement in Assam.
Dwelling on the Land Acquisition Act, the Trinamool Chief said that her party position was that tribal people must have their rights over forest land as it was them who had been protecting the forests. She also threw her weight behind the movement of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) in Assam for land rights of the forest dwellers.
Trinamool Chief also said that BJP and Congress were two sides of the same coin. While Congress has ruined the country for the last six decades, people should not vote for a party like BJP with the taint of rioting.
The West Bengal Chief Minister alleged while her State needed Rs.1,000 crore to provide jobs under MGNREGA the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre had released only Rs. 300 crore. She accused the Congress party to be “vindictive” and “destroying the country.”
Highlighting the special connection between Bengal and Assam, Trinamool Chief spoke at length in Assamese, promising everyone to return to the state soon.
