Never seen a party as corrupt as Trinamool: Gurung

Darjeeling/Kolkata, March 18 (IANS) Calling West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress corrupt, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung Tuesday alleged there was graft in distribution of rations as also in providing jobs.

"There is corruption in the distribution of rations. There is corruption in jobs. We have seen lot of parties. But the Trinamool is the worst," Gurung told media persons here.

Accusing the Trinamool of running a dictatorship, he said even his security personnel were withdrawn after his party aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Lok Sabha polls.

A day back, Gurung had expressed his apprehension that he could be killed like Maoist leader Kishanjee who was gunned down by the joint security forces comprising central troopers and state armed police personnel in the Burishole jungle of West Midnapore district in November 2011.

Responding to Gurung's charges, North Bengal Development Minister Gautam Deb said the GJM supremo was making baseless charges as "the ground was slipping under his feet".

"Trinamool is an economically poor party. Our chief Mamata Banerjee is a symbol of honesty. We are ignoring Gurung's comments this time. But if he continues to make such slanderous comments, we will file civil and criminal defamation suits against him," he warned.

The relations between the GJM and the Trinamool took a turn for the worse after the hill-based outfit refused to support former Indian soccer captain Bhaichung Bhutia for the Darjeeling seat. The GJM argued that Trinamool had unilaterally announced the iconic footballer as its candidate.

The GJM went on to forge a tie up with the BJP, which has nominated S.S. Ahluwalia as its nominee in Darjeeling.

The GJM has also accused the state government of being vindictive, citing the rejection of its president and his wife Asha Gurung's plea for anticipatory bail in the murder of All India Gorkha League chief Madan Tamang May 21, 2010 in Darjeeling.