By IANS,
Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress Sunday took a dig at West Bengal’s Left Front’s candidates list for the April-May assembly elections, saying it reflected the ruling Marxists’ mentality of running away from the polls since they know they will lose heavily.
“The CPI-M (Communist Party of India- Marxist) wants to run away from elections that is why there are so many new faces. Actually the wave is so strong in favour of (Trinamool chief) Mamata Banerjee that many old MLAs (legislators) have declined to contest as they all know that they will lose,” said Partha Chatterjee, the leader of opposition in the assembly.
Chatterjee also said that the list is full of gimmicks as women candidates and Muslim candidates have been given tickets in those areas where they will lose badly.
“For last 34 years, they (the Left Front) neither cared for women nor for Muslims, now at the time when the end has come, they are giving tickets to women and Muslims. It is nothing but duplicity. They all will lose. They have not given the women and Muslim community their due respect. But we will give them their due respect,” he said.
Facing its stiffest electoral fight since coming to power in 1977, West Bengal’s Left Front Sunday dropped 150 sitting legislators, or almost two-thirds of its present strength and will field new faces in their place.
Comprising 292 candidates for the 294-member assembly, the Left’s list was full of surprises with nine ministers, including heavyweights like School Education Minister Partha De, Small Scale Industries minister Manab Mukherjee, Water Resources Minister Nandogopal Bhattacharjee and Backward Class Welfare Minister Jogesh Chandra Burman, not figuring in it.