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Faced CPM atrocities while in Opposition, now BJP’s oppression: Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre alleging that it has stopped sending funds to the state under various schemes.
Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that when the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was in the Opposition in West Bengal, she had to face the atrocities of the then ruling-CPI(M), and now when her party has come to power in the state, she is facing the oppression of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“When I was in the Opposition, I had to face the atrocities of the CPI(M). Now when I am in power, I have to face the oppression of the BJP,” Banerjee said while addressing an administrative program in Birbhum district.
The TMC supremo slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre alleging that it has stopped sending funds to the state under various schemes.
“In the run-up to the last Lok Sabha polls, a massive campaign was launched to showcase the Jal Jeevan Mission in West Bengal. Over the last one year, however, the centre has stopped sending funds under the scheme,” Banerjee said.
She also alleged that the Centre had earlier suspended funds under other schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme over the last three to four years.
“They have stopped the funds raising allegations that there was theft. Big thieves are sitting in BJP-ruled states. What actions have been taken against them? More than 100 teams have been sent to West Bengal,” Banerjee said.
The chief minister also urged migrant workers from West Bengal to return to the state saying that the government would extend all support to sustain them.
“I would ask the families of the migrant workers to urge them to return to the state. There is no dearth of work in the state. If they want to return, we will bear their transportation cost, provide them with ration cards, health cards and enrol them as wage workers under the state government’s Karmashree scheme. We will also register their children in schools,” she added.
This comes amidst allegations that Bengali-speaking migrant workers from the state were being harassed by authorities in BJP-ruled states. The TMC has been alleging that migrant workers were being held in detention camps and branded as Bangladeshis.
The chief minister launched a veiled attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that due credit wasn’t given to the state government for its contribution to some projects which he recently inaugurated during his visit to the state on July 18.
“They engage in divisive politics. Stay away from them. They are venomous. They are dangerous,” she added.
The BJP hit back saying that the TMC supremo has started playing the victim-card knowing very well that if the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is done in the state she will be thrown out of power.
“She knows very well that the ground beneath her feet is losing and if the SIR is conducted, she would be thrown out of power. Hence, she has started playing the victim card. But the people of West Bengal have come to know her very well. They don’t want her to stay in power anymore,” said Rahul Sinha, BJP leader.
