A day after Ratan Tata said he could not see much of industrial activity in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Tata Sons' chairman emeritus, saying he was "suffering from delusion" and has "lost his mind".
While state Finance and Industries Minister Amit Mitra said Tata was suffering from delusion and advised him to indulge in his hobby of flying, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said the veteran industrialist might have "lost his mind" after retiring as chairman of the conglomerate.
"He should carry on with his hobby of flying. I am surprised that his company officials did not brief him properly. He does not know about the expansion of his own group companies in West Bengal... he is suffering from delusion," Mitra told media persons here.
Mitra said several companies, including the Tata Group, have lined up investments in the state.
"The list of industries eager to set up shop here in Bengal is so long that it will take me a whole day to read it out."
Tata, who was forced to relocate a car manufacturing unit to Sanand in Gujarat from a "hostile" Singur, Wednesday said he could not see much signs of industrial development in Bengal.
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"Certainly there is unbelievable change in terms of buildings and development, but it still looks like a countryside underdevelopment. There is a great deal of movement both commercial and residential but you don't see that much signs of industrial development," Tata had said at a programme Wednesday.
Continuing the attack, Hakim asked why Tata wasn't joining politics when he was making such comments.
"We don't need a certificate from Ratan Tata. Even a blind can see the development that has happened around. Why doesn't he join politics and directly jump into the fray instead of making comments every now and then like a godson. It seems he has lost his mind, he is no more the chairman," Hakim said.
The ministers' attack on Tata came in for sharp criticism from political rivals who said the state's industrial scenario was precarious and not anywhere near to the rosy picture painted by the Trinamool.
"Even a lunatic knows what is good for him but not the Trinamool. If somebody has lost her mind then it is the chief minister and the Trinamool supremo (Mamata Banerjee)," said state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Speaking on the same lines, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sujon Chakraborty and state BJP president Rahul Sinha too accused the ruling party of destroying industry in the state with its policies and extortive politics.