Thaindian News

Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) Claiming that political murders have come down in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday lambasted the opposition Left Front for ruining the state during its 34-year rule.

Replying to the debate on the state budget in the assembly, Banerjee said in 2011, 27 opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist activists and 35 ruling Trinamool Congress workers were killed. The current year has seen four Trinamool workers and only one belonging to the CPI-M murdered.

The chief minister attacked the CPI-M-led Left Front, which was in power for 34 years, and alleged that files, audit reports and account statements related to budgeted amounts for police modernisation were missing.

“You have ruined the state during your rule,” she alleged.

The chief minister sought the cooperation of one and all, and said the state’s progress has been halted due to all-round politicization. “Now you should allow us to take the state forward at a fast pace.”

Citing statistics to counter the opposition’s claims of police atrocities on citizens, she said while 31 people died in police firing in 2010 and 14 in 2011, only one death has been reported in the ongoing year.

Opposing the demand for grants, Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra said the direction of the government was not clear from the budget proposals.

Mishra alleged that the police were not working impartially, and regretted that the chief minister has not replied to the large number of letters he has written to her on various issues.

Citing a recent report by the National Commission for Women, he said it had expressed concern over rising crime on women in the state.

He referred to instances of violence among Trinamool workers, and said, “Not a single day passes when the Trinamool people do not attack each other.”