Thaindian News

Kolkata, May 22 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday took pot shots at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for failing to “keep her word” of forming a small cabinet to tide over what she called the state’s financial crisis and questioned whether she has changed her stand after the massive victory in the assembly polls.

CPI-M’s Bengali mouthpiece “Ganashakti” commented in an editorial that the new government’s journey has started with a “broken promise”.

“Before the election, she (Mamata Banerjee) had said if voted to power, she would form a small ministry. Her announcement had reached the masses through television news channels and newspapers. But when she took oath, the same masses saw that the ministry was anything but small. There is no guarantee that its size will not increase in the near future,” the editorial said.

It noted that Banerjee had said that she did not wish to form a big ministry with undeserving people, as that would make it non-functional. “Instead she wanted to include only the able people,” it said.

“Secondly, the leader’s (Banerjee) major campaign plank was the state’s financial ‘crisis’. So she wanted to bring the economy back on rails by curtailing wasteful expenditure like a big ministry.

“The same leader has broken her promise by forming a big ministry. So should one conclude that the leader has changed her colours after the polls? Or has she shifted her stand” the editorial asked.

“Also a conclusion can be drawn that though she cried hoarse about the state’s financial crisis before the polls, she no more subscribes to that after coming to power. Because had she stuck to her stand, then she would have kept her ministry small,” it said.

Banerjee was sworn in Friday heading a 38-member ministry. She has said her party Trinamool Congress would have one more cabinet minister while alliance partner Congress would get five new ministers of state, making the final strength 44 - the maximum allowed in the state as per the rules.

She has defended her decision to opt for a big ministry saying she had to give representation to all the districts, as also minorities and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.