TMC MP says Centre 'splurging' crores of taxpayer money to renovate Lutyens' Delhi

Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday alleged that the Centre was "splurging Rs 20,000 crore" for renovation of Lutyens' Delhi, an amount he said could have been utilised to provide food to millions of people in the country. Abhishek, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said the purpose behind the move was to enable those in the ruling dispensation to "stay isolated in renovated chambers".

"The Centre is splurging Rs 20,000 crore of the taxpayers' money to renovate Lutyens' Delhi. For the same amount at Rs 30 per meal, they could have fed 2 meals a day to 1.85 crore Indians for the next 6 months," the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour wrote on Twitter. "The only explanation is that they want to stay isolated in renovated chambers," he added.

The chief minister has been embroiled in a bitter war of words with the central government and Governor Jagdeep Dhankar over the state's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. PTI AMR RBT RBT