Mamata accuses Cong of doublespeak

As chances of rapprochement between Congress and Trinamool Congress are getting thinner, Trinamool Congress which decided to walk out of the UPA government at the Centre on Tuesday toughened its stance as the party supremo Mamata Banerjee accused Congress of distorting facts.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday Banerjee said: “I request Congress leaders not to distort facts. They must communicate reality”.

Banerjee was reacting to Union Finance Minister P Chdambaram on Wednesday who said that the government tried to speak to her four days ago and the prime minister had tried to speak to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, leaving a message for her which she didn’t respond to.

“The Centre’s claim that the prime minister tried to contact me is wrong. The Centre was never in touch with me,” a furious Banerjee said.

Accusing the UPA government of taking unilateral decisions, Banerjee said, “I want to say this to them, you cannot control us. We are transparent. People know our credentials”.

She stepped up her attack against the Centre dragging in former finance minister and now President Pranab Mukherjee into the controversy. In a post on her Facebook page on Thursday, she quoted the statement made by Mukherjee assuring Parliament that the decision on FDI in multi-brand retail would be taken only after evolving consensus among all political parties.

“For the knowledge of general public, I am posting the statement given by the ex-Union finance minister on December 7, 2011 in Lok Sabha,” she wrote in her post.