File photo of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said the negative publicity of the state was probably due to poor financial status of her party Trinamool Congress.
"There is negative publicity about the state despite its progress on all fronts. This may be due to the fact that we are poorest of the poor party," she said at the CII National Council meet in Kolkata.
"This is a democratic right (for those who say it) and I can't challenge that," Ms Banerjee said.
Inviting the captains of Indian industry who converged at the CII meet, the chief minister's narrative ranged from progress on economic parameters to increased industrial investments taking place in the state.
On the oft-repeated issue of availability of land in the state, Ms Banerjee sought to convince the industry that it was not a problem.
"Land is available with us in the land bank which is being used to provide for new cities and industrial parks," she said.
The chief minister reminded the industry of the rider that she was against taking away land forcibly from farmers and advocated that the input should be purchased directly.
Companies like SAIL, DVC and NTPC were investing in West Bengal, she said and welcomed investments to the state.
She gave the helpline number saying that any problem faced would be sorted out by just giving her a call.
She also invited the CII members to attend the global business meet to be held in Kolkata in January.
The chief minister got local impetus when city businessmen Sanjeev Goenka and YC Deveshwar praised the ease of doing business in Kolkata.