Haldia, West Bengal: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday accused the media of negative publicity against her while addressing an investment summit here.
“Some media groups based in Bengal sing paeans about Gujarat. They’ve been constantly comparing our state with Gujarat and doing negative publicity,” Banerjee said at the second industry summit, Bengal Leads, in this industrial town of East Midnapore district, 120km from Kolkata.
“They (media) don’t love us. They don’t want us as I am not from a family with a golden spoon,” the Trinamool Congress chief said.
Highlighting a host of upcoming projects in the state including those by NTPC, SAIL and the Indian Railway, she accused the media of indulging in “rumour mongering” about West Bengal not getting any big ticket investment.
“SAIL is investing `200bn and there are several projects by the NTPC and the railways. All these projects, are rumours? Some people are doing bad propaganda for their own interests,” she said.
She also claimed that West Bengal’s state domestic product growth was higher than the country’s GDP growth in the last two quarters and rubbished assertions that lack of availability of land was adversely affecting investment in the state.
“Fourteen cases got project clearances in just seven days,” she said. “Some channels have no work other than doing negative publicity,” she added. Mamata took strong exception over the comparison of her state with Narendra Modi’s Gujarat on the industry front, saying the western state enjoyed geographical, demographical and financial advantages.
“Some media which are based here here but sing paeans to Gujarat. I am happy at that, but one must not forget that Gujarat has huge geographical and business potential. They have a huge advantage over us,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee also slammed the erstwhile Left Front government indirectly saying: “Some people are very jealous. Sadly there is no medicine for jealousy.”
IANS
