Mamata Banerje smells conspiracy against her government

KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee told the state Assembly on Saturday that conspiracies were being hatched against her government to dismiss it even though the government was performing very well. "A number of Central agencies are also being used in this regard and I want to tell you that consequences of such conspiracies will not be very pleasant," the chief minister said during the special session of the state Assembly which was convened to pass the interim budget.

"Peace and normalcy in Jangalmahal have been re-established by our government. We also settled the Darjeeling crisis successfully by holding talks with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) leaders. Still some leaders who looked like ravens, are hatching conspiracies against our government," the chief minister told the House.

Meanwhile, both the opposition parties---CPIM and Congress staged a walk out in the state legislature after the speaker disallowed an adjournment motion which the opposition parties wanted to bring to discuss violence and killings in the just-concluded panchayat elections in the state. The opposition parties also protested the state government's decision to send all the budget proposals into guillotine. Before leaving the House, the opposition parties also raised a hue and cry over chief minister's absence in the legislature. However, the chief minister reached the House later and criticised the opposition parties for hatching conspiracies against her government.

The chief minister also refuted opposition's claim regarding killings and violence during the panchayat elections. "Panchayat elections were peaceful. Nine people were killed during the polls and two of them had died in firing by the Central force jawans. On the other hand, 22 of our party activists had been killed in the pre and post-poll violence," Mamata told the state Assembly. She claimed that 159 poll-related cases of violence were reported during the last panchayat elections held in 2008, but this time the number has come down to just 98. This clearly indicated that violence was less this time compared to what the state had witnessed in 2008 panchayat polls.