Shyamal Chakraborty and (above) Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Calcutta, May 8: The CPM today stepped up its attack on governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, calling him a “hypocrite” and accusing him of helping the Opposition ahead of the panchayat polls.

“There must be a limit to his hypocrisy. We don’t believe in hypocrisy. The lifestyle of our leaders and ministers is in tune with their responsibilities in public life,’’ said Shyamal Chakraborty, CPM state secretariat member.

He accused the governor of “misusing” his post to attack the government. “This is only helping the Opposition.”

The voluntary power cut at Raj Bhavan continued today, between 1.30 and 2.30 in the afternoon and 6 and 7 in the evening. But the second hour did not have the governor sharing the common people’s plight — he left to attend a book release in a Park Street shop 15 minutes after the lights were switched off.

Chakraborty dragged another Gandhi while heaping scorn on the governor’s “self-imposed austerity”. Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Dalit homes in Uttar Pradesh, he said: “We do not need to follow Rahul Gandhi to show our empathy with the poor.”

Rahul probably came in the firing line because the CPM feels the Centre has been indulging the governor.

Yesterday, Chakraborty had sarcastically asked the governor to follow up his austerity drive by skipping a meal, donating a share of his salary and walking down or travelling by bus to attend non-government programmes.

The governor avoided a direct reply, but gave students of Visva-Bharati a sermon on distinguishing between humour and sarcasm.

Chakraborty today said Gandhi deserved to be derided. “He invited the sarcasm himself by insulting the government. If he wanted to know about the power situation, he could have called the power minister. Instead, he went to the media to gain publicity.”

Trinamul switch-off

Mamata Banerjee today announced a two-hour voluntary power cut at her home and the Trinamul office. But she hastened to add that she was not emulating the governor.