TMC's Abhishek asks BJP to show proof of central fund allocation

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday wondered why BJP leaders cannot produce documents before people to back up claims about the release of central funds to West Bengal under the MGNREGA scheme.

Addressing a rally at Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur district in favour of TMC Lok Sabha poll candidate and state minister Biplab Mitra, Banerjee asked why should someone already enjoying voting rights, having Aadhaar cards and other valid documents, be asked to prove his citizenship again.

He was referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the government will grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

Alluding to reports that as per CAA rules, a person seeking citizenship will have to provide certain documents, the TMC MP said, "Let us ask them (BJP leaders) to show the papers to substantiate claims that the government has released funds to Bengal under MGNREGA and Awas Yojana after the 2021 assembly elections." "Rest assured they (BJP) won't. That is why they are shying away from my challenge to enter into an open debate with me on the issue of central allocation so far," he said referring to his challenge to state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar.

Majumdar is the MP of Balurghat where the TMC meeting was held.

Accusing the BJP MP of doing nothing to safeguard the interest of the poor and the homeless in Bengal after being elected in 2019, Banerjee said TMC's Arpita Ghosh had worked for the people after her win in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from the constituency.

"In 2014, people had voted for Trinamool's Arpita Ghosh. Even though Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister that year, the Central government was not able to block Bengal's rightful due because the people had elected a Trinamool leader,'' he said.

In the past five years, BJP leaders elected by the votes of the people of Bengal only wrote letters to the central government asking it to stop releasing funds due to the state, claimed the TMC leader, considered number two in the party. ''The upcoming election is to teach the BJP a lesson. This is not a vote to elect Trinamool leaders but to reject and protest against their (BJP) atrocities," Banerjee added.

Accusing the BJP of playing the politics of religion while ignoring the basic needs of the people, he said "Today, there is a Ram Mandir at Ayodhya built at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore. But the poor is yet to get a roof over his head".

Predicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi PM is most likely to visit the Dakshin Dinajpur district before the day of polling on April 26, in the second phase, he said, "I wonder if the PM will come here with a white paper on how much central funds have been released by the Centre."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)