Didi seeks minority blessings

Kharagpur: A day after pleading with the Bengal electorate not to stop showering blessings on her, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday sought the good wishes of minorities on the eve of filing her nomination.
"I am going to file my nomination tomorrow. I seek your blessings beforehand," Mamata said at a sparsely-attended meeting in the minority-dominated Churadanga area of Kharagpur Rural constituency. Mamata sounded a little apprehensive in this seat because the Left having a support base here has fielded a Muslim candidate. A Trinamool rebel, also a Muslim, has filed his nomination in this seat.
"The CPM has lost its identity. Knowing it can't win on its own, the party has aligned with Congress. It is trying to cross the electoral bridge sitting on shoulders of Congress. But Congress will throw it (the CPM) off its shoulders after polls. Come what may, I will fight it out alone like a tigress and not go with either Congress or BJP," Mamata said.
Mamata addressed a mere 4,000-strong crowd at the Churadanga meeting held on a ground adjoining a mosque that usually accommodates 10,000 people during Friday prayers. She devoted 15 minutes of her 20-minute speech at Churadanga to elaborate on steps her government had taken for the welfare of minorities. The Trinamool supremo then pleaded with the crowd, "Think of me and vote for our candidate and district president Dinen Ray from this seat. Bury the CPM, Congress and BJP democratically."
Once again taking potshots at the Election Commission for the long polling process, she said, "The election calendar is spread over nearly three months. All work is stalled now and I don't know how far back we have moved as a result. We will have to start afresh. Many people are spreading canards against me. If you have faith in me, please elect our candidate. Last time, I had nominated a minority candidate Gilkhis Khan from here but he lost to the CPI. So, I have nominated the district president from here."