Trinamool Congress today strongly criticised former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for his comment on BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's praise for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee is now jealous with the development process initiated by the Mamata Banerjee government... He is saying all these rubbish after being rejected by people. So what he says doesn't matter," Trinamool Congress All India General Secretary Mukul Roy said.
Mocking Modi's praise for Mamata Banerjee, Bhattacharjee, a Politburo member of CPI(M), had yesterday sarcastically said, "only a gem can identify another gem".
In a rally in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, Modi had lauded Banerjee for her fight against the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.
"We don't know what someone has said. Our leader Mamata Banerjee is fighting for the people of Bengal and for the development of the state. We don't need anyone's certificate," Roy said.
"Trinamool Congress does not believe in double standards. Rather we maintain political honesty. We are accountable to the people through our development programmes," Roy said.
Criticising Bhattacharjee, Roy said during his rule, law and order had taken a backseat and the entire development process was stalled in the state following Maoist activities in Jangalmahal and GJM movement in Darjeeling hills.
"About 55,000 people were killed during the 34-year Left Front rule," Roy alleged.
"But the TMC maintained patience and never played politics of revenge," he said.
Influenced by the development programmes undertaken by the Trinamool Congress government in the state, workers from different political parties were joining the TMC "almost everyday," Roy claimed, while welcoming six Congress councillors in Old Malda Municipality into the party-fold.
