Mamata Banerjee to campaign for Kolkata civic polls

KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee would campaign for Trinamool Congress for the April 18 elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The fact that she has not campaigned during by-polls indicates that she is wary of BJP and does not want to take chances. Banerjee has depended on her trusted lieutenants like Mukul Roy and Partha Chatterjee to hold campaign rallies in every by-election. But this time, the CM herself will address half a dozen rallies in the city.

On Wednesday, Banerjee led a procession to oppose BJP government’s land bill. During her half-an-hour speech, she hardly uttered a word against the land bill. Instead, she came down heavily on BJP over the ongoing CBI investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam in which many of her leaders and ministers are allegedly involved.

“Every time elections approach, central agencies send notices to Trinamool. This time too, these agencies have sought reports regarding our party’s income and expenditure. If they want to have such reports, they are free to collect those from the I-T Department,” the CM said, referring to CBI’s recent letter to the party seeking statements for the past four years.