Kolkata, Sep 20 (ANI): Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday reiterated her 'anti-shutdown stand', and charged the Left Parties of ruining West Bengal with 'bandhs'.
Banerjee said that she did not support the bandh-politics for it is anti-people, and damages the economy.
"Left has ruined Bengal with bandhs. We will not tolerate bands. Disruptions should not be allowed. We will bring in new laws. We are going to introduce a strict law against such shutdowns. People disrupting transport system will be punished," she added.
Banerjee congratulated all those who came to work despite the shutdown call.
"There is a wave in Bengal that is work-oriented. We are not like the CPM, which will use cadre to enforce a bandh or combat it. Eighty-nine percent of government workers have turned up today. It's a record attendance. So many people don't come in normal days. This shows our work culture and the respect we have for businesses and the economy," said Banerjee.
"We took a decision not to support the bandh; a government should not support a bandh. We understand that the reasons are genuine, so we have not forced anything on the people," she added.
Banerjee further repeated that she was not in favour of the FDI in multi-brand retail.
"We object to the government's decision, we have made a political decision and withdrawn support. But the economy should not suffer because of that. Our politics is not in line with the CPI (M)'s ugly, corrosive, regressive politics which has sent the state to the dumps," said Banerjee.
"Every time the Centre hikes some fare, these people go on the bandh. What is this rubbish? There's no need to compel me to open my mouth. I have worked in the Centre and have been in politics to know that these bandhs don't work," she added.
Emphasizing that the Congress-led UPA Government did not consult the TMC on FDI issue, Banerjee said: "When Pranab Mukherjee was the leader of the House, he had said there would be no decision on FDI without consensus. Forget consensus, they did not even bother to consult us."
An opposition- led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) shutdown organised to protest against reforms, including introducing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, brought the nation to a partial standstill on Thursday
The Congress-led UPA Government appears to be in trouble as of now following West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's declaration that the Trinamool Congress would be pulling out of the Centre.
Trinamool Congress, the second biggest constituent of the UPA with 19 MPs, dealt a major blow to the Manmohan Singh Government when it decided to withdraw its support on the issue of petroleum price hike, FDI in retail and corruption.
The TMC's decision brings the UPA's effective strength in the 545-seat Lok Sabha from 273 to 254, which is slightly below the halfway mark.
The ruling Congress Party is likely to rope in either the Samajwadi Party or Bahujan Samaj Party, both of which extend outside legislative support to the UPA regime. (ANI)
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