New Delhi: Launching a fresh attack, rebel Trinamool Congress leader Ajit Panja asked Mamta Banerjee and "her group" to pay a compensation of Rs 2 crore for the damage caused to state buses in Kolkata during the 24-hour West Bengal bandh on August 5, saying her "behaviour confirms her frustration in not getting a Cabinet berth".

Demanding setting up of a committee by the state government to invite applications for claiming damages during the bandh, Panja, who has been suspended by the party, said, "Mamta and her group should pay a compensation of Rs 2 crore for damaging six state buses in Kolkata on August 5."

Describing the bandh as "a failure", Panja told reporters that "the Left front is having a free play because of the idiosyncracies of Mamta Banerjee".

"If she really wanted to protest the rail zone bifurcation, she could have joined the Cabinet in the first place and argued it out in that forum. At least a note of dissent would have been there on record," he said.

Stating that Trinamool Congress Core Committee led by him had "unanimously opposed" the bandh call, he said, "The bifurcation issue was really a mask. The real reason for calling the bandh is her failure to become Railway Minister."

He alleged that many party leaders, including Members of Parliament (MPs), had not been consulted when the decision to call for a bandh was taken.

He said that the core committee would meet in Kolkata on August 9 to hold a detailed discussion on issues affecting West Bengal, including the creation of new rail zones.

PTI