Kolkata, November 02: In an apparent bid to woo the minority population, Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today said she had supported the Vajpayee government “under compulsion” and had not “wasted time” to condemn the Babri mosque demolition.
“We (TC) had supported the Vajpayee government (in 1998 and 1999) under compulsion and never wasted time to condemn Babri Masjid demolition. Nor did we approve of Ram mandir in Ayodhya. We also protested the communal riots in Gujarat under (Chief Minister) Narendra Modi,” she told a gathering of Muslims.
At a seminar ‘Vision for a New Bengal’ organised by Urdu daily ‘Akhbar-e Mashriq’, she assured the Muslims and dalits that she would give priority to reservation in government jobs for them “if my party comes to power in the next assembly elections in the state”.
Assembly polls are due in the state in 2011.
–Agencies