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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday hoped that Prime minister Manmohan Singh would keep his word on sanctioning a financial package for the state.
Deliberating on the acute financial crisis the new government faced after taking over from the Left Front regime following Assembly elections, Banerjee said, "I have sought a financial package from the Centre to rejuvenate the economy.
"I met the Union Finance Minister six to eight times to seek financial assistance for West Bengal, which was shattered in last 35 years of Left Front rule. But the package has not yet reached us," she said.
She said the Prime minister has given his word and hopefully the package will get through.
Listing her government's plans and programmes, she said, "You will find within one year what the word parivartan (change) stands for."
"I think Ma-Mati-Manush is the real source of strength," she said at a huge public rally in Kolkata to observe the Trinamool Congress annual 'Martyrs Day' and to celebrate her party's massive win in the last assembly elections.
"Once the financial crisis is over, the state government will find a way to build its own financial infrastructure. Bengal will not go begging anymore," she said.
Image: Mamata Banerjee. | Photograph: Reuters