Kolkata: Attacking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her predecessor and CPI-M leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday termed as "lies" her statement that she knew nothing about the chit fund scam before the Bengali New Year day. "New she says I did not know anything before Polia Baishakh (April 15-Bengali New Year's Day). For some people, lying is a habit. She knew everything. Her government has admitted that in an affidavit before the court," Bhattacharjee said without taking her name at a public meeting in Shyamnagar of neighbouring North 24 Parganas district.
"She put her party MP at the head of the newspaper and television channel business of the Group (chit fund-aided Saradha, which has gone bust). Another MP was the brand ambassador. So many of their (ruling Trinamool Congress) people were on monthly payroll (of the Saradha Group)," he said. The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said the Trinamool government allowed the media business of the Group as also those run by other chit fund-aided companies to flourish on the condition that they back the ruling party to the hilt and strongly campaign against the opposition Left Front.
"They were told that if they do so they would get government advertisements generously. Crores of government money in the form of advertisements was pumped into the chit fund run media. Now that skeletons are tumbling out, the chief minister says 'You are calling me thief? Then what are you?'"
Taking strong exception to Banerjee's allegation by displaying
05:34 AM, May 06, 2013
Panihati: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday mocked her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's comment that the former Left Front regime had kept chit funds at bay and promised to publish 'posters' against canards by the Marxist party. "Kept them at bay? But rubbed shoulders with them! Whose photo is this?" Banerjee asked dramatically at a Trinamool Congress rally in Panihati in North 24 Parganas, showing a photo purported to...
12:40 AM, May 05, 2013
Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday said that he "did not agree" with the popular perception that his successor in the top post Mamata Banerjee was honest. ...
01:15 PM, Feb 06, 2013
Lashing out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allegedly failing to improve the condition of the poor, CPI(M) Politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday said the UPA regime has pursued anti-people policies to help a handful of rich people for the past nine years. ...
04:41 AM, Jan 28, 2013
Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday accused the West Bengal government of squandering money on self promotion instead of creating jobs. ...
02:39 AM, Jan 14, 2013
Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday accused the West Bengal government of squandering money on self promotion instead of creating jobs. "The constant refrain is all work has been done. Sometimes it is being said 90 per cent of the work is complete. We ruled West Bengal for 34 years. But we could never think of saying such things," he told a CPI-M rally at Dum Dum. ...
09:26 PM, Jan 13, 2013
Bitterly critical of the Trinamool Congress governance in West Bengal, CPI(M) leader and former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said the state was lagging significantly in industry and agriculture with anti-social elements "active and unchecked". ...
03:24 AM, Nov 25, 2012
Alleging that the Trinamool Congress lacked a national perspective, CPI-M politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said the party had moved the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha to serve its "narrow" political interests. ...
12:31 AM, Nov 25, 2012
Kolkata: Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday accused the Mamata Banerjee-led government of driving away investors which was jeopardising the economy of the state. "Her (Mamata) government says it would not give land for industry. Because of its faulty policies the industrial environment in the state has become unproductive and the investors are leaving the state," said Bhattacharjee, a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member. "First...
01:48 AM, Nov 12, 2012
Howrah: Accusing the government of following pro-US economic policies, CPI(M) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be unable to retain power by following the policy of appeasing the rich. "Manmohan Singh is aware that his government is not doing well. He is trying but will not succeed with the kind of policies being pursued by his government. One of his friends, Barack Obama, has been...
11:48 PM, Nov 11, 2012
Arambag: CPM Politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday described the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre as a "sinking boat" and said the Left is trying to build a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative. The condition of Manmohan Singh government is "not good," Bhattacharjee alleged at a party worker's meet here, and said, "His (PM's) boat is taking in water and will sink." "The Congress has to go. But BJP is not...
06:01 PM, Sep 09, 2012
Kolkata: In a veiled attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "encouraging imperialism", CPI(M) veteran Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said it was unprecedented that the state government was eager to invite a US president next year. He made the reference to the state government's desire, expressed during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit Kolkata in May last, to invite Barack Obama to attend 'Yuva Utsav' on the occasion of...
05:34 AM, Sep 02, 2012
Kolkata: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Thursday criticised Mamata Banerjee-led government saying that it was running under the dictatorship of one person, where nobody else had courage to raise their heads. "Only one voice is there in the state at present and nobody else has courage to raise head. There prevails absolute anarchy on law and order situation in the state," Bhattacharjee said without naming the present...
12:13 AM, Aug 17, 2012
Kolkata: Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday slammed the Mamata Banerjee government saying he hardly found any governance in the state as crimes against women were steadily going up and the state failed to attract any investment. The state was steadily going downhill for lack of political will and policies and programmes for development on the part of the government, the Left leader alleged. "It is very...
02:29 AM, Aug 06, 2012
New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee spoke to former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and West Bengal Left Front Chairperson Biman Bose on Thursday afternoon, seeking Left Front's support during the Presidential election. Mukherjee had a telephonic conversation with Bhattacharjee, who is in Kolkata, and discussed the developments related to the Presidential election. Mukherje also called Bose requesting him to convince the Left leadership for support. Bose reportedly told...
02:59 PM, Jun 14, 2012
Kolkata: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday strongly criticised the Mamata Banerjee government, saying that it "failed to deliver" goods in all spheres during its rule last one year. "The state is lagging behind in all areas with no news of fresh investment, no clear industrial policy, misrule in panchayat system and deteriorating law and order," Bhattacharjee said at a rally at Dum Dum during campaign for...
01:40 AM, May 14, 2012
Kolkata: Known as a pragmatic Marxist, former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday sang the old tune, saying capitalism would ultimately give way to socialism. "Capitalism will give way to socialism. It will create social ownership and usher in the end of class differences," Bhattacharjee, a CPI(M) politburo member, said at a function here to mark the 142nd birth anniversary of Vladimir Lenin. He, however, did not gave...
12:29 AM, Apr 23, 2012
Kolkata: Former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is likely to step down from the CPM politburo, according to sources on Sunday. The veteran Marxist has purportedly written a letter to party general secretary Prakash Karat conveying his wish to abdicate from the CPM's highest decision-making body. Bhattacharjee has cited illness as the reason behind his unwillingness to continue in the politburo. Bhattacharjee is also not keen to attend the upcoming CPM...
10:21 AM, Apr 02, 2012
Kolkata: Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday said the Trinamool Congress-led government was suffering from a sense of political intolerance. "They cannot tolerate political parties like the CPI-M and that is why they are divesting powers of the CPI-M-controlled zilla parishads to district magistrates," he told a Bengali news channel. He claimed that the TMC government was attacking newspapers and TV channels which is "another instance of...
10:48 PM, Apr 01, 2012
Kolkata: In a show of strength, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday led a massive procession of Trinamool Congress supporters in an apparent answer to a similar show by her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in the city four days ago. Though Trinamool Congress said the procession was undertaken to protest against a "slander campaign and conspiracy by CPI(M) in collusion with some TV channels" to undermine the state government,...
12:56 AM, Mar 04, 2012
