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Mamata Banerjee criticises BJP's rule

Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has derided the Bharatiya Janata Party for backtracking on the new education policy and said the government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee is fast losing credibility.

Addressing the media in Calcutta on Saturday, Banerjee criticised the BJP, her electoral ally, for not consulting the joint co-ordination committee of its coalition partners before calling a conference of state education ministers to discuss an overhaul of the country's education system.

Describing the move as controversial, she said that as a partner in the coalition, her party is also facing uneasy questions from the public.

"People are beginning to question our party for the failures of the BJP-led government. The numerous [instances of] backtracking by the Centre on various issues are creating a difficult situation for us," she said.

The firebrand leader also criticised the Centre for failing to check the rise in prices of essential commodities. She regretted that her proposal to the prime minister to meet all the chief ministers on the issue had not been heeded.

The Trinamool Congress will organise a sit-in demonstration in Calcutta on November 10 to protest against the rise in prices and the deteriorating law and order in West Bengal, Banerjee said.

She also demanded to know what follow-up action the Vajpayee government is planning in response to the report of the central team that had visited Bengal to assess the law-and-order situation.

UNI

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