File photo of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said though her name topped the Maoist hit-list, she would keep visiting their former stronghold of junglemahal as she was unafraid of them.
"I have heard that my name tops their hit-list. If they are brave enough let them come. I am not afraid of them.
Nothing can stop me from visiting junglemahal," Ms Banerjee told a public rally in Silda in West Bengal.
"I will visit junglemahal a thousand times to carry on the development process," she said dubbing Maoists as cowards who took advantage of darkness of the night to kill people.
Urging people to resist the Maoists so that they could not disturb peace, she said, "We have recruited many people in junglemahal in the police force, in the civic police and village police."
Lashing out at Maoists for pursuing the politics of annihilation, she said a memorial would be built in honour of the 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel, who were killed by the ultras in their camp in West Midnapore district in February 2010.
"I have ordered the police administration to build a memorial in honour of those EFR jawans who lost their lives in the line of duty after being attacked by Maoists," she said.
A community training centre would also come up.
The state government would take up a tourism project spread over Goaltore, Silda and other areas of the district to attract more tourists to junglemahal for its economic development, she added.