CPI-M, Congress have sold their flags to each other: Mamata

Attacking the poll understanding between the Congress and the Left Front, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the two parties of having sold their flags and said the Junglemahal region in the state would be on fire if the Marxists returned to power.

Banerjee, addressing an election rally in this remote rural pocket in West Midnapore district, also dubbed the BJP as a party with a single-minded objective of "fomenting communal riots".

Lambasting the opposition parties, she said the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party were only "uttering lies, spreading misinformation and canards".

She trained her guns on the CPI-M, which spearheaded the Left Front government for 34 years.

"Those who couldn't perform for 34 years, are now sitting before television cameras and talking big. These leaders are trying to mislead you," she told the rally here, about 175 km west of Kolkata.

"Remember, if you allow them to come back to power, Junglemahal (forested stretches comprising large areas of Bankura, West Midnapore and Purulia districts which are known as Maoist pockets) will again be on fire. There will again be blood letting. Junglemahal will see unrest," she said.

Shilda, close to the Jharkhand-Bengal border, was a hotbed of Left Wing extremist activity some years back. In February 2010, heavily armed ultras attacked an Eastern Frontier Rifles camp here and shot dead 24 paramilitary personnel.

Coming down heavily on the Congress-Left Front understanding, the Trinamool Congress supremo said: "They have become great friends now. The Congress has sold its tricolour to the CPI-M. The CPI-M has sold its red flag to the Congress.

"If you are a supporter of the Congress or the CPI-M, then don't give a single vote to these two parties. If policy is sold, nothing remains."

She said the Congress has forgotten Gandhism and was only shouting "CPI-M zindabad".

"The CPI-M has also forgotten Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Ho Chi Minh," she said.

The chief minister said she came out of the Congress and formed the Trinamool as the former had a 'nexus' with the CPI-M.

"Now this understanding has come into the open. They have no shame. Had we not come out of the Congress, the CPI-M would not have been ousted."

Referring to the BJP, she said: "They only want to start communal riots. They want riots among the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. They only want to foment Hindu-Muslim riots."

Banerjee also targeted the Election Commission without taking its name.

In an apparent reference to the strict measures being enforced by the poll panel, she told her party workers: "If anybody tries to intimidate you, don't be afraid. Those who come from outside, will leave after three days. You will live in the area. Remember, you have to keep the locality in good shape".