Mamata afraid of free and fair rural polls, says Congress

The Congress Monday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was "afraid" of free and fair panchayat polls and like a "coward" was using police and hoodlums against the opposition to sail through.

"You are afraid to fight. That is why you have resorted to using police and hoodlums against your opponents to win the elections by force, like a coward," state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya said about Banerjee here.

He also accused Banerjee of indulging in "party-cracy" and warned that the Congress would not allow her to continue with the tactics.

"As a leader of opposition, she always used to raise her voice against 'party-cracy' during the Left Front's reign. But now she is doing the same thing," he said.

Bhattacharya appealed to district and block administrators not to bow their heads to pressure tactics of the Trinamool Congress ahead of the upcoming panchayat (rural bodies) polls, and hoped they would stand by the truth.

Accusing the Trinamool of unleashing a reign of terror, he claimed even Governor M.K. Narayanan was not satisfied with the law and order situation in the state.

"He recently indicated to me that he was not satisfied with the way the elections are being held. He did not find the law and order situation satisfactory. When the state governor does not have faith in the way things are being done, then how can people have faith in the government?" Bhattacharya said.