CALCUTTA, SEPTEMBER 12: In A scathing attack on the NDA government at the Centre, Chief Minister Jyoti Basu today said a coalition of 24 parties comprising ``all cattle'' was running the government at the Centre and warned that if it dared to impose President's Rule in the state it would get a befitting reply.The Chief Minister was addressing a rally, organised by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the CPI(M)'s youth wing, and the Students Federation of India (SFI), the party's students wing, in central Calcutta.``They are all cattle who are running the coalition at the Centre, they have no morality, they have lowered the image of the country in the eyes of the international community,'' Basu said. ``If they dare promulgate Article 356 of the Constitution in the state, they will get a befitting reply,'' he said.The rally, attended by more than 2 lakh people who came from all over the state, and addressed by Deputy Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya also, was a show of strength by the ruling Marxists. This was in response to Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee's persistent demand for President's Rule and Union Home Minister L.K.Advani's threat that the Centre would consider all options, including imposition of President's Rule, to restore law and order in the state.Bhattacharya in his address warned party members to gear up for the battle ahead. ``It's war ahead,'' Bhattacharya, the chief minister-in-waiting, said. ``We will have to gear ourselves up for any kind of situation,'' he said.While the Chief Minister claimed at the rally that the situation was fast returning to normal in the violence-hit districts of Midnapore, Hooghly, and Bankura, in a fresh bout of violence, three people - two of them belonging to the Trinamool Congress and one to the CPI(M) - were killed in clashes at Belda village in Midnapore district this morning.Briefing reporters about the incident, Bhattacharya said he would like to talk to the Trinamool Congress to stop the violence everywhere. ``If Mamata Banerjee wants to talk to me, she is most welcome,'' he said.But Basu's attack on Mamata today was more vitriolic and scathing than usual; he accused her of corruption and falsehood. Reiterating the familiar charge that Mamata had lied about her educational qualifications, he said the Trinamool leader would never quit the Union cabinet as she was making money illegally.According to earlier reports, Mamata had threatened to quit the cabinet if her demand for President's Rule was not met. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, before leaving for the US last week, had asked Defence Minister George Fernandes to undertake a tour of the violence-hit districts. After receiving reports from Fernandes on the law and order situation in the state, Advani told reporters yesterday that imposing President's Rule was one of the Centre's options.The 86-year-old Chief Minister spoke for 40 minutes standing, rejecting requests from other party leaders to deliver the speech sitting on a chair. Interestingly, people started leaving the rally as soon Basu rose to speak.
