Deployment of CRPF won't be a concern for TMC: Hakim

Kolkata: State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim on Friday made it clear that the deployment of Central forces for the Lok Sabha elections in the state will not be of any concern to Trinamool Congress, as the people of the state will vote for the development work undertaken by the TMC government under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"Some parties are unnecessarily too excited with the deployment of Central forces. They should remember that Central forces were in place during the Assembly polls in 2016 as well, when TMC swept the polls with 211 out of 292 seats. The by-election at Uluberia also witnessed deployment of paramilitary forces but it was also a cakewalk with the TMC candidate sweeping the polls with over 5 lakh votes. If the people of the state did not have faith in the ruling party and the law and order situation in the state then they would have not elected the TMC candidates," Hakim said.

He asserted that the law and order situation in the state is peaceful and the state police handle it efficiently, giving confidence to the voters to vote for the ruling party. "The Central forces will do their work and guard the booths but the people of the state will go and vote for development and we are confident of winning. Let the Opposition be upbeat with the deployment of Central forces," Hakim maintained.

The minister was also vocal against the Centre for stopping the funds under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and certain other schemes.

"After the Niti Aayog was constituted there has been discrimination regarding the disbursement of funds. The Centre was supposed to allocate funds for flyovers like the Maa flyover, the Batanagar flyover and the Chandannagore flyover but they didn't release any money. They also didn't give an iota of funds for some water projects. The state government had to spend more from its own exchequer to complete the projects," he added.