Calcutta, Feb. 4: Mamata Banerjee today accused the chief minister of “violating the Constitution by asking cadres” to go to the Opposition and convert their “negation” of his industrialisation drive into an “affirmation”.

“Buddhadebbabu’s directive to his cadres amounts to a threat to the Opposition. We have every right to say ‘no’ to what the chief minister thinks. He has violated the Constitution by asking his cadres to force a change in our opinion,” Mamata said at a “save democracy” convention organised by her new Secular Progressive Democratic Front.

Bhattacharjee had yesterday accused the Opposition of saying “no” to all his initiatives on industrialisation and told the audience at a rally of the CPM youth and student wings: “You have to campaign to convert the no to yes.”

At the Mamata meeting today, the Trinamul Congress-led Save Farmland Committee threatened to block Durgapur Expressway indefinitely from February 8, demanding return of land acquired for the Tata Motors plant in Singur.