Congress-Trinamool govt in Bengal if coalition wins: PM

Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee had been equivocal over the issue.

In the eventuality of an electoral victory, the Congress will participate in the government along with the Trinamool Congress, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said while addressing an election rally at Dum Dum in West Bengal.

Earlier, the Congress working committee member and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had maintained that the Congress high command would take a call once the election results were out. The Congress president Sonia Gandhi has come to the state and addressed a few rallies but has not dwelt on this topic.

Exhorting the people to choose the coalition government over the Left, the prime minister promised real parivartan if voted to power, Singh said while addressing an election meeting at Dum Dum in North 24 Paragnas district.

“If a government of the TMC-Congress coalition comes to power we will ensure change,” the Prime Minister said, adding, “For the financial year 2009-10, West Bengal had higher revenue deficit than any other state in the country. Only the Congress alliance can change this. The state lags in all sectors including industry, health and education. So, I appeal to you to vote for parivartan,” he said.

Accusing the state government of not utilising central funds properly, the Prime Minister said, “Investors have lost confidence in the government and are alienating the state. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM)-led government has failed to implement central schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).”

According to him, the state has failed to spend 70 per cent of the central government-allotted funds under the NRHM and was only able to provide about 22 days of work under MGNREGA, while the national average is 36 days.

Training guns on the state government’s industrial and education policy, the prime minister added, “The state’s industrial sector is suffering the most. From Kalyani to Budge Budge factories are closed, tourism and tea industry are also in poor shape. Only, our alliance can bring about a change in this situation and bring back investor confidence.”

Remembering working with Amartya Sen and Sukhomoy Chakroborty from Bengal as an economist, Singh said, “Education standards have deteriorated here over the years. According to the 2001 census, in literacy Bengal stood 18th. However, in the recent census it stands on the 20th spot, much behind smaller states like Nagaland and Manipur.” He added that poor education standard and state government’s failure to generate employment had forced the youth to go outside Bengal for jobs.

However, he said that the first priority of the newly-elected government will be to restore peace in the state. “Political violence is a cause of concern for us. We were forced to deploy central forces to restore law and order in areas like Jhargram. If voted to power, we will restore peace here,” he said.

Pointing out the Sachar Committee report, he said the condition of Muslims in the state is miserable compared to states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat and promised the alliance will take everybody along on the path of development.

Earlier, while addressing the campaign, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said, “The financial condition of the state is in a pathetic condition and we need the help of prime minister to revive it. Only the TMC-Congress alliance can bring about a change in this.”Mamata Banerjee said nothing about the two parties being in government together.

83 per cent turnout in 2nd phase of Bengal Assembly poll

An estimated 83 percentage polling was recorded in the second-phase of the Assembly polls in West Bengal, which passed off peacefully, the Election Commission said on Saturday.

Briefing reporters at the end of the polling in 50 constituencies, Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi said the percentage is likely to go up further, as voters are still waiting to cast their votes in 20 to 30 per cent of polling stations. “Saturday’s polling has gone-off very peacefully. There was no untoward incident and almost incident-free”, he said.