"There has been a fuel price hike and it is putting burden on common man. Chief Ministers of other states have criticized the decision. But it is only our chief minister who is yet to open her mouth against the decision of price hike," Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Abdul Manan told reporters during a joint press conference with CPI(M) leaders.
"It only proves the collusion between TMC and BJP. If the Chief minister is so serious about the common man then he should cut down the taxes that the state government impose on oil prices," Chakraborty said.
The petrol price has been hiked by a steep Rs 4.47 per litre and diesel by Rs 6.46 per litre in the last five weeks, taking retail rates to their highest level in a year. Oil companies hiked petrol price by Rs 2.58 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.26 a litre.
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Both Mannan and Chakraborty criticized the chief minister from not giving proper administrative instructions to stop post poll violence in the state.
The Congress leader's comment comes in the backdrop of
senior TMC leader and nephew of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee's announcement that there will be "no sign of Congress and CPI(M)'s political existence by the end of this year".
Echoing Congress leaders, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said such kind of poaching of opposition MLAs and forcible taking over of municipalities was a "dangerous sign for democracy".
Mannan, however, said that he has decided to move the apex court seeking an amendment to the anti-defection law as TMC was poaching on opposition MLAs and other leaders by taking advantage of the "nitty gritty of the said law".
"The TMC is using economic blockade on opposition controlled municipalities. Then they are using money and muscle power to force the councillors to join TMC . But they have not managed to make any inroads in Siliguri till now," Siliguri Municipal Corporation Ashok Bhattacharya told PTI.
Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said, "The Congress' decision to align with the CPI-M during the last Assembly poll had proved to be a 'political harakiri' as the rank and file of the Congress did not accept the alliance.
"By the end of this year there would be no sign of political presence of Congress and CPI(M) in Bengal as people have rejected this unholy alliance. And those who are joining TMC, want to be part of the development process started by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," he said.
Asked whether it was in sync with the principle and ethoes of political parties in Bengal, which has rarely witnessed such instances of public representatives switching to ruling dispensation in past, Mukul Roy countered, "It is not a question of moral values.
"If someone wants to come and join the development process how can you stop them? We are not forcing anyone to join TMC. Everybody is doing it on his/her own," he said.
"We have a very strong ideological base and committed party members and that is why we have been unaffected by poaching and defection. But we would like to say what TMC is doing with other opposition parties is totally undemocratic," state BJP President Dilip Ghosh told