'Industry and politics shouldn't be mixed, need to involve all to grow'

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that politics and industry should not be mixed and attributed the purpose of industrial growth of Bengal to joining hands with Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani's conglomerates — Adani Group and Reliance Industries.

"Politics is something different to that of industry. If you want to grow you have to involve all. You have to divide the fruit for all. I don't mind who is A, who is B, who is C, who is D. I mind who matters," she said speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2022, on Monday.

She accused the BJP-led central government of encouraging only the BJP-minded people to invest in India and no other people. "That is the basic difference between us and them. Our interest is to build industries, wherever there is a possibility," she maintained.

Banerjee's assertion assumes significance as recently her government has granted its approval to Adani Enterprises to set up a hyper-scale data centre on 51 acres of land located in Bengal Silicon Valley in New Town.

During the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit in April, Adani Group committed to Rs 10,000 crore investment over a decade towards developing port infrastructure, data centres and undersea cables, centres of excellence in digital innovation, warehouses and logistics parks.

Reliance Jio is building a cable landing station in the state intending to boost its connectivity with European and Asian countries.

Banerjee also referred to a recent communication from the Defence Ministry urging Bengal that after serving the Indian Army for 4 years under the Agnipath scheme, the state should give them the opportunity in the police. "Army training and police training are poles apart. The Army can resort to firing but the police have to interact more with the people. They cannot fire like the Army. Instead of Agnipath's four year tenure, the job in the Indian Army should continue for all Agniveers for at least 60 years," she said.

Banerjee also sought a reply to the saffron party's often used barb of "dynasty politics".

"What is this dynasty that they [BJP] are talking about? After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's death, Sheikh Haseena took over the reins of Bangladesh. Who else could have done that," she remarked. She hit out at Home minister Amit Shah over the dynastic politics and said: "When someone becomes the BCCI top boss, there is no talk regarding dynasty politics. It's only meant for those who fight for the people at the grassroots level."