Calcutta, Nov. 1: Mamata Banerjee sought a ban on the CPM along with Maoists for “unleashing terror” on a day a Left Front minister criticised attempts to link her with the guerrillas.

“There is no difference between the CPM and the Maoists since both believe in the politics of killing and violence. They are two sides of the same coin. So why should the CPM not be banned?” the Trinamul Congress chief said.

She was reacting to Delhi’s reported decision to send six more companies of paramilitary forces to Maoist-hit West Midnapore following a request from the chief minister.

“I feel the central forces are being used by the CPM’s harmad bahini (armed cadres) to terrorise the Opposition in West Midnapore. I have submitted documents to the Centre to prove how the forces are being used by the CPM to serve its own political interests,” she told a news conference and iterated her demand for the withdrawal of the paramilitary from Lalgarh.

The state government had told the Centre the number of personnel in West Midnapore had to be increased immediately to deal with the “volatile situation”, particularly after Tuesday’s siege of the Rajdhani. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who is said to have personally spoken to the home minister about the need to ramp up the forces’ strength, accused railway minister Mamata two days ago of being hand in glove with the guerrillas who had stopped the train.

Mamata responded today, saying: “Buddhababu has become a leader of both the CPM and the Maoists. The Maoists are running a parallel government here with Buddhababu’s blessings. He is using his party and the Maoists to let loose state-sponsored terrorism.”

She alleged that her party’s Nandigram panchayat leader Nishikanta Mondal was killed “together by the CPM and the Maoists” in September. Trinamul had so long denied any Maoist link to the murder.

“We believe in transparency. We have had no links with the Maoists who believe in violence and killings. The CPM is hand in glove with them (the Maoists). Let the Centre probe it,” Mamata said.

According to Trinamul sources, Mamata’s attempt to distance herself from the Maoists is aimed at blunting the CPM’s “sustained campaign against us” on the alleged nexus barely a week before 10 Assembly bypolls.

Trinamul got a shot in the arm when PWD minister and RSP leader Kshiti Goswami cited the Centre’s clean chit and said the “CPM’s allegations are confusing”.

“The CPM is continuously alleging that Trinamul has links with the Maoists. But Union home minister P. Chidambaram has denied the allegation on the basis of intelligence inputs. So, the CPM’s allegation is confusing,” he said while campaigning for a bypoll in north Bengal’s Kalchini.

Goswami added over the phone from Siliguri that it was “not fair on the part of a responsible political party like the CPM to accuse another of having Maoist links without proper proof”.

Mamata thanked the Left leader for “telling the truth”.