Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (centre) at the venue in Kaliachak, Malda, on Sunday. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, May 11: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today attacked Priya Ranjan Das Munshi without naming him for asking people to vote for the BJP, reminding the Union minister that his future lay at the mercy of the CPM.

“It pains me to see a Congress minister exhorting people to vote for the BJP instead of Left Front candidates,” Bhattacharjee said at an election rally at Habibpur’s Bulbulchandi High School grounds.

Das Munshi had, at a news conference here yesterday, asked the people to cast their ballots for the BJP in seats where there were no Congress or Trinamul Congress candidates.

“How can a minister urge people to vote for a communal party when his very future lies at the mercy of our support,” the chief minister said. He said the Congress has very little presence in other states and in Bengal, too, it would continue to sleep.

“This is an important election and the entire nation is watching. We know what the results will be, but it is up to the people to decide whether they want to go ahead in agriculture, industry, education and culture or take a step backwards,” Bhattacharjee said at another rally that started around 7.30pm in Kaliachak’s Karbalamaath, 50km from the first venue.

The chief minister did not spare Sonia Gandhi either. The UPA chairperson, who was in Malda last month, had blamed the state government for failing to check the price rise.

“The Congress is in power in Delhi, could it check price rise there? The UPA government is a failure and the next time we will have to look for a better alternative.” The new alliance, he said, should be minus the Congress and the BJP.

According to Bhattacharjee, the Congress-led zilla parishads in Malda and Murshidabad were the worst-run in the state.

He, however, admitted that the total electrification of villages has not yet been achieved. “We are a power surplus state and I have asked the minister in charge to see to it that all villages get electricity.”

Keeping in mind the considerable presence of the minority community in the district, the chief minister said madarsas were being modernised so that Muslim youths could avail of better employment opportunities. “We want young Muslims to study in the improved madarsas so that they get jobs in the government sector.”

Bhattacharjee had arrived in Malda town from Siliguri in the afternoon. He will stay overnight at the guesthouse of the National Thermal Power Corporation in Farakka, 35km from here.

The chief minister will address rallies in Murshidabad district tomorrow before returning to Calcutta on Tuesday.