New BJP chief Sukanta accuses Mamata of 'running taliban govt' in Bengal

Kolkata, Sep 21 (IANS) Sukanta Majumdar launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday, just a day after his appointment as the state BJP president. He not only raised questions on corruption and 'autocracy' rampant in the administration but also accused Banerjee of "running a Taliban government".

Speaking at a felicitation program at the BJP Kolkata office at Hastings, the MP from Balurghat said, "According to a newspaper report Mamata Banerjee's family has 35 plots. The article came out three years before and there was no legal action against the paper. So what should we conclude? The article is true!"

"Mamata Banerjee is portrayed as the symbol of honesty and her family owns 35 plots of land. This is what Trinamool Congress is," he added.

Without naming Abhishek Banerjee, the new President of the state BJP said, "There is one person who has allegedly been involved in multi-crore coal scam and the money has been transferred to his wife's account. He and his wife have been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate -- the investigating agency. Without cooperating with the agency, he is lodging complaints to the police against the ED officials. Is this democracy?" Majumdar said.

Accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress of running a Taliban government, the Majumdar said, "Can anyone believe that a person has been hacked to death on open road after the election only because he is a supporter of another party? Is this democracy? There were elections in four states but apart from Bengal no person died in any other state. Only in this state so many people lost their lives!"

"Where are those intellectuals now who shouted that BJP is destroying the culture and the tradition of the state," he added.

During his first public appearance after becoming the state BJP chief, Majumdar made it very clear that he is willing to work with all the people who have made this party what it is today.

While making his address where all the senior leadership, including outgoing satte President Dilip Ghosh, former state President Rahul Sinha and veteran BJP leader Tathagata Roy were present, the MP from Balurghat said, "The post of the President is not a permanent post. Yesterday Dilip Ghosh was here, today I am on the chair and tomorrow someone else will come and sit. This is only possible in BJP".

"BJP is a party where a person who lives in an aspirational district some 400 kilometres away from Kolkata has been made the President of the party. This is not possible in any other party in the country. We only work for the party," he added.

"I want to say that the party is here because of the contributions of all the former presidents, the thousands of leaders and lakhs of workers who dedicatedly work for the party. Once there was no one in BJP and now there are 77 MLAs. Some have left but that will not make any difference.

"The BJP moves with an ideology and it is not a person-centric party. No one is inevitable in the party. We all contribute to the growth and the development of the party," he said.

Speaking on the exodus from the party, the new President said, "I will definitely hope that everyone should stay in the party during this hard time but if someone leaves for some instant benefit, he is welcome because those people can never contribute to the growth of the party. They are only interested in temporary and personal gains.

"We are going through a difficult time but I know that we will surely come out of it and free the state from the clutches of Mamata Banerjee and her family," he concluded.