Mamata questions crib deaths in Gujarat

Kolkata, March 20 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday hit out at BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi, questioning crib deaths in Gujarat.

"There are some who shamelessly sing paeans about Gujarat and constantly compare it with Bengal. I want to tell them Gujarat has riots and not Bengal. Those who are clamouring about Gujarat's development, I want to ask why there are crib deaths and nobody is talking about it," Banerjee said at a rally in Murshidabad's Lalbagh, without naming Modi - the western state's chief minister.

"I am seeing a new trend, people are now contesting from two seats," added Banerjee in an obvious reference to Modi contesting from the twin seats of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara in Gujarat.

Asserting that Bengal and Gujarat cannot be compared due to their demographic and geographical differences, Banerjee accused the central government of depriving Bengal even as the western state got central funds after the devastating earthquake in 2001.

Launching a scathing attack on her rivals - Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left - Banerjee asserted that her Trinamool will contest the polls alone.

Taking the fight to Congress in its stronghold in the state, she accused the MPs from the region of neglecting the welfare and interests of the people.

Describing the Congress as "synonymous with corruption", BJP as communalist and the Communist Party of India-Marxist as the destroyer of Bengal, Banerjee urged the people to "annihilate" them in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.