Kolkata, Sep 25 (PTI) Union Minister Smriti Irani came down heavily on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying she is not concerned about developing Bhabanipur, where she is contesting the by-poll, but is only fulfilling her own personal agenda.

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Banerjee, she said, has "thrust" the by-poll on Bhabanipur after losing in Nandigram and called upon the people to shed fear and come out to vote on September 30.

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Despite being the chief minister since 2011, Banerjee has not done any development work in the constituency which is inhabited by people of different communities for a long time, the union minister told reporters during her door-to-door campaign in support of Priyanka Tibrewal, the BJP candidate.

The TMC supremo had powered her party to a smashing victory in the April-May assembly poll but had lost to her former protege Suvendu Adhikari, who had defected to BJP, in Nandigram, the place which had put her at the forefront of the anti-land acquisition movement and led to her demolishing the 34-year-old Left rule in the state. She has to win the by-election, being held after a senior member of the party vacated the seat, to continue in office as per the Constitution.

"What development work has she undertaken in Bhabanipur? People in several parts of the constituency are living under stressful living conditions. Mamata didi is not interested in the development of these people. She is only concerned about her getting elected as MLA so that she may continue as the chief minister," Irani, who crisscrossed the constituency and interacted with voters, said.

Reacting to Irani's comments, Firhad Hakim, a state minister and one of the key campaigners of Banerjee, said "She (Irani) is a tourist politician who has no roots in Bhabanipur."

"Smriti Irani was a talented TV actor who joined politics. She may have made a mark as a politician, but she has no idea about the ground situation, no connect with the people of Bhabanipur who trust Mamata didi not her," Hakim said.

"BJP is merely staging drama after finding no support in the constituency," he added.

Tibrewal, BJP state President Sukanta Majumder, party MP Arjun Singh demonstrated at Hazra Crossing in the constituency protesting the alleged "insensitive comments" by Banerjee about dead BJP workers, who were reportedly attacked by TMC after election results were declared on May 2." PTI SUS

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)