Congress, CPI-M, BJP will be routed: Mamata

Attacking the erstwhile Left Front government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said the Congress, the Left and the BJP - "which have forged an alliance" - will be routed in the Lok Sabha polls.

Having faced criticism over incidents of crime against women in the state, Banerjee asserted that her government has tackled the criminals and questioned the opposition's silence over similar cases in other parts of the country.

"We don't want such incidents (crime against women) to happen but there are some aberrations and we have tackled them strongly. We have apprehended the culprits and given exemplary punishment," she told a party rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds here.

"I want to ask the Congress, the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), why did you not utter a word when 15 women were raped inside a relief camp in Muzzafarnagar?

"I want to ask the CPI-M: Has it forgotten its past which is full of atrocities on women and innocents. Have you forgotten Nandigram, Singur?"

Banerjee also accused the Left of allowing chit funds in the state to flourish which allowed them to "amass huge amounts of money".

"Those who have allowed chit funds ... should not preach to us. We have not only arrested the perpetrators (of Saradha chit fund scandal) but also ensured the rehabilitation of those who were ruined," she said.

She claimed that despite a severe financial crunch owing to huge debts incurred during the previous regime, West Bengal had made rapid all round developments.

She asserted that the Trinamool was the only alternative for the people of the state -- and the country.

"Congress is not an alternative to the BJP, the BJP is no alternative to the Congress. Trinamool Congress is the real alternative for the country.

"Despite forging an alliance, the CPI-M, Congress and BJP were routed in the Panchayat polls and they will suffer the same fate in the Lok Sabha election," she added.