BJP's double engine propaganda of same govt at state, Centre a hoax: TMC

Kolkata: Taking a dig at the BJP, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and state minister for Science, Technology and Biotechnology Bratya Basu said the BJP's "double engine" propaganda that it would be good to have the same government at the Centre and state for the latter's development was nothing but a hoax.

Addressing a press conference at Trinamool Bhavan on Friday afternoon, Basu said: "In Federalism there is no such word as double engine. BJP helps the corporate giants and to assist them to acquire land. Trinamool Congress works for the people and if BJP is voted to power, they will sell everything. There is woman empowerment in Bengal. There is social and cultural Renaissance in Bengal under Mamata Banerjee."

Drawing a comparison between Bengal and the BJP-run states, he said: "The statistics will expose the lies circulated by the BJP leaders."

He said the child mortality rate in Bengal is 22. The rate stands at 48, 43 and 24 in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat respectively.

"The maternal mortality rate in Bengal is 98, but it is 173 in Madhya Pradesh. The national average stands at 113. Bengal has 85,627 hospital beds against Gujarat's 20,127 only. The number of hospital beds in Uttar Pradesh is 76,260, while there are 31,106 and 69,721 beds in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka respectively," he added. Demolishing the claim of the BJP leaders that the law and order situation in Bengal was deteriorating, Basu said in Bengal the crime rate is 152 per one lakh people. The rate of crime in Delhi is 1,457 per one lakh people. The rate stands at 1,317 in Surat and 826 in Ahmedabad.

"Crime against students in Bengal is 64 in Bengal against 108 in Haryana and 69 in Madhya Pradesh per one lakh students. The crime against women has gone down by 21 per cent in Bengal against 56 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. Crime against Scheduled Caste people in Bengal is 0.3 per cent. The same stands at 25.5 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 14.2 per cent in Bihar," he claimed.

He said the forest cover in Bengal had increased from 13.50 per cent in 2014-15 to 19.04 per cent in 2017-18, while in Gujarat it has reduced from 9.62 per cent in 2014-15 to 7.57 per cent in 2017-18. "Forest land has been given to big corporate houses and people are being evicted despite caution from the High Court," he maintained. He said the tribals were being beaten to death in BJP-led states while in Bengal law had been passed in the Assembly to prevent lynching. Basu said the state government laid stress on the education of girls and women empowerment. "More than 67.29 lakh girls have been benefited by Kanyashree project and Rs 6720 have been spent for the same. The state government has cleared 15 lakh applications for widow pension. Out of the proposed 65 all-women police stations, 48 have come up so far," he added.