Mamata
Banerjee on Saturday took a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party for organising a fund
raising dinner.
Launching
her Trinamool Congress' manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, Banerjee mocked the Aam
Aadmi Party without naming it in an apparent reference to the recent
fund-raising dinner organised in Bangalore during its leader Kejriwal's visit
to the southern city.
"Nowadays,
people are even taking money for lunch and dinner. There are different prices
for different seats. If you sit in front you pay more... maybe they had
different prices for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, different rates for
plain water and coloured water," said Banerjee with a chuckle.
She also
showed her amusement over "free water" promised by Aam Aadmi Party in
its manifesto.
"I
heard in some places there is tax on water. But here in Bengal people get it
for free. I haven't heard that people will have to pay money to get water. In
Bengal, water will always remain free," she said.
Banerjee yet
again seemingly targeted the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party when she wondered how
some recently established parties were getting "lakhs and lakhs" of
rupees.
"Electoral
reform is one of our topmost priorities, and state funding of elections is
imperative. Even parties newly formed are getting lakhs and lakhs of rupees. I
can't understand from where they are getting this money," she said.
Expressing
anguish over India not adopting state funding of elections, unlike many foreign
countries, Banerjee accused the parties of using money power to buy out the
media and use them for their own ends.
"This
is not politics, parties have become hypocrites and they have no right to
continue. That's why we say electoral reforms are our topmost priority,"
she said.
Raising the
issue of black money allegedly stashed in foreign tax havens, Banerjee said,
her party will endeavour to create a preventive joint mechanism with foreign
countries.
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