PM's meet with CMs 'gyaan baato' session; Centre must clear dues first: TMC

kolkata: Trinamool Chatra Parishad (TMCP) will organise a rally on April 30 to protest against the unprecedented price hike of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and medicines and demand clearing of dues worth Rs 98,000 crore by the Centre, Trinamool Congress (TMC) state secretary Kunal Ghosh said on Wednesday. Calling the chief ministers' meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "gyan baato" session the party demanded that the Centre clear dues it owes to the Bengal government.

"Mr. @narendramodi, we would like to draw your kind attention to key numbers that you may have missed in today's 'gyaan baato' session. Government of India owes Government of West Bengal a WHOPPING ? 97,807.91 Cr! "Care to shed light on this? Any plans to clear our dues? Let us enlighten the Prime Minister on this momentous day...," the party said in a tweet.

"It is our promise that if the Central Government clears our dues, Government of West Bengal will exempt all taxes from Petrol & Diesel for the next 5 years! Rs 97,807.91 Cr is due. @narendramodi ji, let's see if you can deliver," the party also tweeted.

Taking a dig at the Prime Minister the TMC also stated that unable to control the spiralling fuel prices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pinning the blame on opposition-ruled states.

"Now, as the Centre has failed to control the fuel prices, the prime minister is blaming the states. He is trying to blame others to evade responsibility for the economic mismanagement," TMC MP Saugata Roy said.

Later, addressing a press conference at Trinamool Bhavan Kunal Ghosh criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for misusing the platform meant to discuss Covid related issues with the Chief Ministers which in reality became a discussion to criticize them. The opposition Chief Ministers were not allowed to talk and the meeting virtually became a soliloquy.

"It is uncalled for and was an orchestrated effort to criticize the opposition chief ministers to cover up his fault to reduce the price of petrol and diesel," he said.

Ghosh categorically maintained that if the state government's dues worth Rs 98,000 crore are cleared, then for the next five years the state government will not impose a single paisa as tax on petrol and diesel. "It was a speech made deliberately to create confusion among the people and unnecessarily blame the opposition governments for the price hike of petroleum products."

The TMC also stated that unable to control the spiralling fuel prices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pinning the blame on opposition-ruled states.

Jawhar Sirkar, TMC Rajya Sabha MP said it is unfortunate that the Centre does not entertain questions raised by the opposition MPs that are related to the hike in the price of diesel and petrol.

"I had raised four questions on the issue which have not been answered. So RTI becomes the only option to gather information," he said.

Ghosh said Modiji should know some basic facts before making any sweeping statement about Bengal. The state government is giving a rebate of Rs 1 per litre on petrol and diesel from February 2021. The state government has waived Rs 400 crore road tax on vehicles whereas the Centre has hiked the toll tax.

Sircar said the tax on petrol and diesel charged by the Gujrat government is Rs 44.52 per litre. It is Rs 48.10 per litre in Karnataka. In UP it is Rs 45 per litre while in Bengal it is Rs 48 per litre. "So the difference is not huge. But the BJP is projecting as if the BJP-ruled states have given great relief to the people by reducing such tax."