Mamata for strengthening PM8217;s hands

Information and broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan would represent the Prime Minister in the rally, which would also be attended by Defence Minister George Fernandes, besides Chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur Farooq Abdullah and W Nipachama Singh, she said.

Vajpayee would not be able to attend the rally due to his preoccupations in Jamaica, she said. Alleging that the CPIM-Congress alliance was manifest in the INTUC and Left trade unions8217; general strike in the state today, she said Trinamool Congress activists were being obstructed from coming to the city to attend the rally.

quot;I am convinced that the strike is designed to disrupt my party8217;srally,quot; she said. To a question, she described today8217;s strike as aquot;celebration of the ruined economy in West Bengal by both CPIM And Congress.quot;