Mamata urges people to change govt at Centre in LS polls

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday called for bringing a change in the government at the Centre in the Lok Sabha polls and alleged that the BJP dispensation has caused hardships to the people of the country.

Banerjee said her party will contest elections in states neighbouring West Bengal such as Jharkhand and Assam to protect the people from alleged attacks by the BJP.

The TMC supremo, who is organising a mega rally of opposition parties at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on January 19, urged the people to change the government in Delhi in the general elections.

"We gave the slogan for defeating the BJP in the Lok Sabha poll. You should also raise the slogan 'badal do' (change it)", Banerjee said.

She claimed that the Modi government has failed to solve the unemployment problem and the common people are not getting loan from banks.

"The people are fed up with the Modi government. They are saying enough is enough", she said.

Banerjee had stated on Wednesday that the TMC will play an "important" role in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Several opposition parties have confirmed their participation in the mega rally in Kolkata, she had said.

"Leaders such as Chandrababu Naidu, Hardik Patel, Tejaswi Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, M K Stalin, Farooq Abdullah and Arvind Kejriwal have confirmed their participation at the rally," the chief minister had said.

Accusing the saffron party of attempting to divide the nation on religious line, Banerjee urged the people not to fall prey to any provocation.

"Our party (Trinamool Congress) will contest elections in the neighbouring states to protect people from saffron attacks," Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting here in the state's coal belt in West Burdwan district.

She claimed that the BJP was bringing paid goons from neighbhouring Jharkhand to foment trouble in West Bengal districts, and Bengalis and Biharis are being driven away from Assam where the BJP is in power.

"We will contest Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Jharkhand in the future. We will also contest in Assam and Odisha," Banerjee said in the meeting.

Referring to the BJP's alleged attack on the adivasis in Jharkhand, she claimed that the tribal land was being grabbed there. "We sent our team there to fight for their cause. The fight will continue in the future," Banerjee said.

"Bengalis and Biharis are also being driven away from Assam. We want good relations with our neighbouring states. We have decided to contest elections there. If an adivasi is persecuted there, we will fight for them," she said.

Charging the BJP with trying to incite violence and divide the nation, Banerjee said her government will not allow this to happen.

Banerjee blamed the BJP and the CPI(M) for instigating people against implementation of projects in the state.

These two parties were also asking people not to cooperate with the administration for rehabilitating residents of the subsidence-prone areas in Asansol, Raniganj and Jamuria, the Trinamool leader claimed.

Stating that the state-run Durgapur Projects Ltd (DPL) would be restructured, she said huge employment opportunity would be created through development of the world's second largest coal reserve at Deocha-Panchami near here.

On agriculture, she said, "Bengal is the only state where khajna tax on agricultural land has been waived. We have done away with mutation fees on agricultural land."