After shooting off an angry letter to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, questioning the facts that he quoted when he expressed concern over the state’s ‘culture of violence’, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee fired a fresh salvo at the minister on Saturday.
Mamata called political leaders ‘spineless’ on her social networking page. “Nowadays, I am not surprised, when I see growing numbers of so-called political leaders having no spines. In my opinion, it has become a potential area of doing research work on this aspect,” she posted on her page.
Later, however, she parried the questions about who was the recipient of such sharp criticism. “I was talking about everyone, all of us, everyone who is spineless,” she said.
While Didi and her message both remained ambiguous, State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim left little to the imagination. “We think those people are spineless who were fighting against the CPM, but today they are wooing the same party keeping polls in mind,” said Hakim clearly pointing finger at the Congress.
“Age-old cherished ideals, courage and closest links with the roots of common people of the country are not found. That is why they have become weak and afraid to fight for the cause of the common people and unveil the truth. I believe in the responsibility of the leadership to put demands of the people foremost and to grow as human beings,” Mamata said.
Chidambaram had on Thursday said that ‘inter-party clashes’ were continuing in the state and had led to 82 deaths.
—–PTI