BJP woos farmers in Bengal, ignores their protest in Delhi: TMC
Kolkata: At a time when BJP's national president JP Nadda launched the party's first poll campaign in the state aimed at farmers, ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday attacked the saffron party citing that the latter's concern for peasants in Bengal was a sham as it (BJP) didn't bother about those protesting against the farm laws within
the striking distance of
Delhi.
Senior TMC leader and minister of state for health Chandrima Bhattacharya said BJP leaders have time to travel across the country and "shed crocodile tears" for farmers but not pay any heed to the protesting farmers.
Bhattacharya said 92 per cent of the farmers in Bengal are covered under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme, besides getting Rs 5,000 per hectare. Also, the state government provides a job to the family in case of the death of a
farmer.
She claimed that Bengal is the only state where farmers don't have to pay the premium of the crop insurance,
rather it is paid by the state government.
Slamming BJP for its attempts to malign Mamata Banerjee-led state government by spreading rumours, the TMC also claimed that the saffron party is a fake news factory. Trinamool Congress MP Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said the BJP was divided into three camps—the original BJP, the new
BJP and the tourist BJP—in the state. "The tourists are coming to Bengal to spread lies," she said, calling BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya a 'dedicated liar'.
According to Ghosh Dastidar, Malviya had misquoted Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Richard H Thaler, on banning of Rs 2000 currency notes in 2016.
Again, Malviya shared a clipped video, which suggested that the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had appreciated the good work of BJP-ruled state governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. However, the exact words were "My relationships with the government of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were very good. We never discriminated against BJP-ruled states."
Dr Ghosh Dastidar said Malviya on February 24, 2019 had tweeted that Narendra Modi was the first head of the state to visit Kumbh in all these areas. But, it was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who had visited the Kumbh way back
in 1954.
Malviya had tweeted before 2019 Lok Sabha elections that TMC was responsible for demolishing the statue of Vidyasagar as told by a student. Later, investigation revealed that the allegations were widely inaccurate.
Dr Ghosh Dastidar alleged that BJP leaders had shown the scenes from a Bhojpuri film showing how a woman was abused in various social media to depict unrest at Basirhat in North 24-Parganas.
