‘Need to reassess 2011 vote’

CPM: Asks people whom they voted for & what change they got

In the backdrop of the recent violence in the state carried out allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers, former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday asked the people to reassess their decision to vote for the Trinamool taking into account Mamata Banerjee government's performance. He also alleged that some steps taken by the government to woo the minorities will only help the "communal" BJP to flourish in the state.

"People will say the last word. It was the people who removed us from power with a hope to usher in a new era and it is now upto them to judge what they have done — what was the situation then and what is it now," Bhattacharjee told a rally at Kalindi in adjacent North 24-Parganas district.

He claimed that a "dangerous situation" was prevailing in the state with "law and order deteriorating, rate of crimes against women growing and violence against the opposition parties".

There was also total absence of any development work in the state either in industry or in agriculture, he alleged. "A government has to perform. It can't run only on assurances and false promises. Security of people, particularly that of women is at stake," he said.

He also questioned the government decision to grant an allowance to imams, saying it would give the BJP an opportunity to reap political mileage in the state.

Bhattacharjee said: "Imams have been doing this jobs for ages, Why do we have to allocate money for them? Lakhs of Muslims are not getting jobs. I arranged for reservation for Muslim youths, but now that has been stopped. Now the BJP is saying that if you allot money for imams, why don't you allocate money for Hindu priests in temples? It is bound to raise a communal bogey in the state and BJP will make the most of the communal divide."

... contd.

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