'Had Bengal been a separate country...': BJP's Sukanta Majumdar hits back at Mamata Banerjee

Banerjee had also alleged that the Centre allowed steep price hikes of petrol and diesel to divert attention from the “atrocities” carried out by the saffron party in non-BJP states.

A day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee warned that India’s financial condition is worse than Sri Lanka's and urged the Centre to call for an all-party meeting to address it, Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar on Tuesday suggested her "to take care of her own state". Claiming that both Sri Lanka and Bengal are currently under debt, Majumdar warned that the state would have suffered a similar fate as Sri Lanka, which is in a major political crisis after the cabinet has quit following protests over the country's worst economic crisis, had it been a separate country.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee (PTI)

“Mamata Banerjee should take care of her state. Sri Lanka is ruined; its total debt was ₹6 lakh crore and Bengal's debt is ₹5.62 lakh crore. Had it been a separate country, its condition would have been worse than Sri Lanka's,” news agency ANI quoted Majumdar as saying.

On Monday Banerjee had alleged that the Centre has no plans to deal with the rise in prices of commodities. "The BJP is responsible for this crisis; it’s their return gift to the country after winning the Uttar Pradesh elections,” the Trinamool Congress chief had said.

Banerjee had also alleged that the Centre allowed steep price hikes of petrol and diesel to divert attention from the “atrocities” carried out by the saffron party in non-BJP states.

Terming the budget as a "bluff", Adhikari said the TMC was keen to attack the BJP leadership over fuel prices but the state has not slashed the cess it has imposed on petrol and diesel. The Bengal government had presented a budget worth ₹3.21-lakh crore for the 2022-23 fiscal.

(With agency inputs)