West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today asked the councillors who were not keen on serving people and were looking to make money, “to leave the party”.
She also called those of her party members joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as “greedy” and “corrupt”. She said those who want to join the BJP should quickly do so, and said the saffron party was “collecting garbage”.
Banerjee said that some were going to the CPIM, while others were heading to the BJP. “They have no ideology. My fight is for the people. If you agree, you may come along with me, else you are free to leave,” she said at a meeting with councillors of her party in Kolkata’s Nazrul Mancha. “Please hurry up and leave if you wish to. In place of one, I’ll create 500 more,” she said. She was addressing nearly 300 councillors of her party from various municipal bodies of the state.
“Some have usurped government property while some others have taken money for giving people benefits of government programmes. And when their theft was found out, they decided to run away and join another party,” Banerjee said.
She said that some people in her party were leaving because they were afraid of facing action because of their wrongdoing. “But we will still take action,” she said, adding that joining another party did not mean action would not be taken against them.
Trinamool Congress MLA from Noapara, Sunil Singh and 12 councillors joined the BJP in New Delhi on Monday. Earlier, three other MLAs and about a hundred councillors from various municipal bodies have already joined the BJP from Trinamool Congress since the Lok Sabha poll results.
Banerjee said that her party leadership had made some mistakes while selecting candidates. From now on, candidates will be selected on the basis of performance, she said.
“It doesn’t matter if people are angry and tell you about their problems,” she told the councillors. “If you decide to fight, learn to face people’s wrath,” she said. Banerjee added that councillors play a very important role and they can make a different at the grassroots level. “If you work and perform, people will definitely support,” she said.
