TMC accuses PM of spreading lies about state's dev work

Kolkata: Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday accused him of making false claims while inaugurating new rail routes in the state and stated that Modi was trying to "steal credit" for expansion of the Metro project when in reality it was the brainchild of Mamata Banerjee as the then Railway minister.

Trinamool Congress also accused the Prime Minister of "ushering lies" about Bengal that has received several awards for best performance in different industrial and social sectors by the Centre itself.

The state's ruling party slammed the Prime Minister referring to him as the senior-most member of the 'tourist gang' alleging that he "bad-mouthed Bengal in his teleprompter performance" to show the state in a poor light. After a fact check of the speech Modi delivered on Monday, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien tweeted attaching a three-page note to help people know the reality.

Rubbishing his claim that people are stopped from worshipping Maa Durga, TMC put forward the real picture that not only Rs 50,000 each was provided to 28,000 Durga Puja organisers but also took the festival to a new height by organising the Biswa Bangla Carnival.

Modi claimed that the Trinamool Congress government is not letting Bengal develop. A "reality check" put forward by the party shows that the average per-person income has doubled from Rs 51,543 in 2010 to Rs 1.09 lakh in 2019 along with 53 per cent growth in GDP that is from Rs 4.51 lakh crore to Rs 6.9 lakh crore. The state budget has tripled in the past 10 years as it increased to Rs 2.55 lakh crore in 2020-21 fiscal.

In terms of depriving Bengal's farmers of the PM Kisan Nidhi Samman scheme, the state government has already completed verification of 2.5 lakh cultivators and sent it to the Centre to provide them with the benefit. But the Centre is yet to initiate giving them the benefits when the Mamata Banerjee government is providing Rs 6,000 annual financial assistance to more than 60 lakh farmers under the Krishak Bandhu scheme.

Slamming Modi's claim of Rs 1,100 crore out of Rs 1,700 crore for tap water connection to households remaining unutilised, the TMC leadership stated that the Chief Minister has taken up Jal Swapno project worth Rs 58,000 crore to provide tap water connection to every household. It is 35 times that of "the Centre's claimed allocation".

"Nearly 89 lakh small businesses operate in Bengal today, employing 1.35 crore people compared to that of 34.6 lakh in 2012 and the number has witnessed 15 per cent increase in the past 10 years," said Trinamool Congress, rubbishing Modi's statement that Bengal used to be an industrial hub but the situation has now reversed. Most importantly, the Centre is sitting on the state's proposal for the past four years for Presidential consent sent to take over the closed Dunlop factory along with Jessop. Incidentally, Modi held the meeting on Monday at the ground of the closed Dunlop factory.

When the farmers' income has doubled in Bengal, the state government has also identified 1,000 hectares of land where potatoes are cultivated only for the purpose of export and the state Labour department provides training to youths on spinning and weaving jute.

Moreover, the state Food and Supplies department bought 7 crore jute bags in 2019 to encourage its farming in the state.

Recalling Banerjee's initiative as the then Railway Minister to propose the introduction of 34 services in Kolkata Metro, including the extension of Noapara to Dakshineswar while laying the 2011-12 Railway Budget, Trinamool Congress secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said: "Mamata Banerjee as Railway Minister laid the foundation for Dum Dum-Dakshineshwar metro in 2010. Phase I of the project was launched in 2013.

For 7 years the BJP Govt. at the Centre failed to allocate enough funds & ahead of polls @narendramodiji is rushing to steal credit?"