LS polls: Mamata defends decision to give tickets to celebrities

TMC's list of candidates, which contained names of several film and cultural personalities, was criticized by Left parties and Congress, who alleged that the party banked on stars at the expense of grass-roots leaders to see it through the general elections.

   

Mamata Banerjee countered this by saying that they had been nominated because she wanted them ‘to have a say in national politics. The new faces have been inducted to give a truly representative look to the list of candidates’.

   

The West Bengal Chief Minister was talking to reporters at the NSCB Airport before leaving for Delhi where she would address a joint rally tomorrow with anti-graft activist Anna Hazare at Ram Lila Ground to kick start the campaign for TMC candidates.

   

Putting her full faith on Dev, the matinee idol of Bengali cinema who has been fielded from Ghatal in West Midnapore district, she said, "Dev will win. The youth should be given opportunity in politics. No one becomes politician overnight."

   

The Ghatal seat was last won by CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta, she said.

   

"I want more and more young people to come into politics. If the younger generation is not encouraged, then who will manage the affairs (in the country) in the future?" she asked as Dev stood besides her.

   

Besides Dev, Moonmoon Sen, daughter of Suchitra Sen and herself an actress, would contest from Bankura and yesteryear actress Sandhya Roy from Midnapore. The TMC list also has Soumitra Roy, a lead singer of popular Bengali band 'Bhoomi', theatre personality Arpita Ghosh and singer Indranil Sen.

   

Pointing out that the TMC list was an exercise to give representation to people from all walks of life, Banerjee said that the film and cultural personalities could pursue their respective professions while at the same time serving people as ‘future representatives’ in Parliament.

(Agencies)

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Mamata desires early exit of UPA government

"Despite repeatedly telling this government, it has deprived and exploited the state. The Prime Minister had himself committed before the election that if we were voted to power, the Centre would help the state and restructure the debt. Nearly three years have elapsed since then," Banerjee told a press conference in Jalpaiguri.
   
"This government is on the way out. The sooner it goes the better," she said.
   
She reiterated that the Left Front government has left behind a huge debt because of the Centre allowing it to take loans.
   
"The previous government did not follow the Fiscal Responsibility Budget Management," she said.
   
She said that the state wanted a transparent debt-restructuring plan so that it could invest revenue earned for infrastructure development.
   
"West Bengal was deprived the most. We have repeatedly sought restructuring of the debt but it was not accepted," she said.
   
At a recent party rally in Jalpaiguri, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh had voiced his support for Mamata, saying that her demand for a three-year moratorium on interest on central loans is justified.

(Agencies)

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Modi gave 'factually incorrect' data about Bengal: TMC

"The honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat made a few statements which were factually incorrect," said a post in the party’s website. At the rally, Modi had mentioned that only 35 percent schools in the state have electricity and that 60 percent girls` schools in the state have toilets.

   

"The research team, which provided him with these figures, clearly depended on an old report. According to the report of a review committee meeting held today, 98 percent schools in West Bengal have toilets while most primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools have uninterrupted power supply," the statement said.

    

It pointed out that West Bengal is the only state in India to have a power bank. In the last session of West Bengal assembly, the state Power Minister Manish Gupta had informed the House that West Bengal will achieve 100 percent rural electrification by December 2014.

    

"As of December 2013, West Bengal achieved 60 percent rural electrification (up from 10 percent during the Left Front rule)," the Trinamool Congress said. The statement said that with a debt burden of over Rs 2 lakh crores and a yearly interest of Rs 28,000 crores, little money is available for the government to spend for public purpose.

    

"However, West Bengal government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, managed to increase revenue collection from Rs 22,000 crore (in 2011-12) to Rs 40,000 crore (2013-14, till August), which is about 81.8 percent," it said.

    

At the rally, BJP president Rajnath Singh had sympathized with Banerjee’s demand for a bailout package for the debt-ridden state saying the UPA government should have given a moratorium on loan repayment to the Centre.

(Agencies)

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