Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee put the ball in the Centre’s court on Sunday, asking it to take action against the alleged state government-sponsored terror in Bengal.

She alleged that both the CPM and Maoists were indulging in violence. “I have given all evidence to the Union Home Minister regarding the violence unleashed by armed CPM cadres. The state government has failed to control the law and order situation. Now, it is for them (Centre) to take action,” Banerjee told mediapersons at her Kalighat residence on Sunday.

“Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has a double face. Both the CPM and the Maoists are two sides of the same coin and are unleashing terror. If the Maoists are banned, why not the CPM? There is no difference between Maoists and Marxists,” she stated. Banerjee claimed that in the last two months, 69 of her party workers have been killed and several are still missing. “Even in Nandigram, party workers like Subrata Samanta, Bottokrishna Patra and Aditya Bera are missing. Everyday our workers are being killed in different parts of the state,” she said.

Asked about the alleged link between the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists, she said: “If it had been so, our panchayat pradhan Nishikanto Mondol would not have been killed in Nandigram.” Recently Mondol, a Trinamool panchayat pradhan in Sonachura, was killed by Maoists.

Banerjee also slammed the state government for failing to control the rise in prices of essential commodities. “Rationing is a state subject. The prices of all essential items are sky-rocketing. Even prices of potato are rising. How many cold storages have been set up by the government in the last 32 years? The government lost its steam on potatoes,” she said.