Mamata warns Congress, says 'it's time to fight back'

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday reached out to the voters in north Bengal districts and exhorted her party workers to be geared up for the fight against friend-turned-foe Congress.

Mamata, who launched her election campaign in the Congress-Left bastion where the TMC failed to register an impressive victory in the 2011 assembly polls winning just 16 seats, said that her party had helped the Congress to win the elections in this region but the grand old party

instead helped the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

"During my meetings here, I saw how we helped the Congress to win in Malda, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur, while the Congress, instead of helping us, helped the CPI (M). Today, it is time to fight back. Trinamool doesn't believe in bloodshed or terrorism rather we believe in God, Allah, amma and mother," Mamata told an election rally here.

Decrying the Congress for ignoring Murshidabad, the fire band politician from Bengal sought to know from the Congress as to what they have done for the development of the region.

"I want them (Congress) to show what they have done for the development in Murshidabad," she said.

"When we came to power, the CPI (M) had left us with huge debt of more than Rs. two lakh crore. Despite such enormous pressure, we made huge developments. We did not get any seat in Murshidabad, but developed 83 families out of 100," she added.

In 2011, the Trinamool Congress had won 16 seats in north Bengal, Congress 17 and Left 16. Of Malda's 12 seats, the Congress had bagged eight, the Left three and Trinamool one. In Murshidabad, which has 22 seats, the Congress had won 14, the Left seven and Trinamool one seat respectively.

The Election Commission on Friday announced the dates for the West Bengal assembly elections, according to which the first phase of the six-phase voting will take place on April 4 and 11, while the second and third phases will be conducted on April 17 and 21, respectively.

The last three phases of elections will take place on April 25 and 30 April and May5, whereas the votes will be counted and results will be declared on May19.