Kolkata, Aug 28 - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday accused West Bengal's Left Front government of maligning her department by raising allegations of acquiring large tracts of land for railway projects.

Banerjee, who won spectacular success in the April-May Lok Sabha polls after a sustained two-year campaign against acquisition of agricultural land for industries in the state, said she was against taking over of land by force.

'I am against forcible acquisition of land. The railway does not require huge land to lay tracks, but the CPI-M has massacred farmers to take away thousands of acres of their land,' said the minister, who has announced a large number of railway projects for the state.