Kolkata, Apr 24 (PTI) The BJP today criticised Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for not resigning from the UPA government which, it said, is embroiled in a number of scams. "Mamata Banerjee, who was an ally of the NDA had resigned from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government because of the then Defence Minister George Fernandes' alleged involvement in the coffingate scam. Later, when CBI investigations found the charges to be wrong, she still chose to resign," BJP National Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here. "Now when the UPA government is facing some of the worst scams, including 2G spectrum and Commonwealth scam, why didn't she (Banerjee) choose to resign ?" he asked. Accusing Banerjee of using disrespectful language against Advani, he said, "I respect Mamataji as a leader but she should have showed equal respect to our leaders." Banerjee had in one of her rallies said she respected Advani as an elderly person but she did not recognise him as a political leader. Prasad came down heavily on both the Left Front and the TC-Congress alliance for wooing minority voters in the name of reservation and maintaining silence on infiltration, which is a major issue in the state. "Religion-based reservation is not permissible by the court of law but these party into this kind of competitive politics". Quoting from 2011 census report to buttress his point, he said the overall population growth in West Bengal is 13.9 per cent whereas that in districts bordering Bangladesh it was as high as 23 per cent. "It is understood why there is a disparity but not a single political party is saying a word because that might upset their vote bank." Lashing out at CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat for his reported statement that there would be riots if the Left Front lost in West Bengal, Prasad said the Leftist party was trying to 'communalise' the ongoing election. "Left Front has never tried to develop the state because it wanted the poor to stay poor so that they could continue doing politics on that," the BJP spokesman alleged.
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