Mamata Banerjee says land boundary bill unilateral, will not accept it

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today slammed the Centre for introducing a Bill providing for demarcation of the boundary with Bangladesh, saying it was "unilateral" and without consent of the state government.

"It is extremely unfortunate and shameless on the part of the Union Government to forcefully introduce the Land Boundary Agreement Bill in Parliament just seconds before the sine die adjournment of the current session," Banerjee said in a Facebook post.

Without naming Congress, she said, "It is a political gimmick of a particular political party ruling the country to serve its political purpose before general elections."

Banerjee said, "This unilateral act of introduction of the Bill without consent of the state government has set an alarming trend of bulldozing and imposing an issue which involves not only West Bengal, but also Assam, Tripura and parts of North Eastern States."

The Chief Minister said her government would neither accept it nor implement it.

"Not an inch of land of our state should be given away. Together, we will fight public battle for West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and North Eastern region, including other parts of the country," she said.

A Constitutional amendment bill providing for demarcation of the boundary with Bangladesh was introduced in Rajya Sabha.

The government had mooted the Bill to ratify an agreement under which India and Bangladesh would exchange territories.Mamata Banerjee today slammed the Centre for introducing a Bill providing for demarcation of the boundary with Bangladesh