TMC junks Modi's claims in 10-point fact checker

Kolkata: Putting forth 10 facts contradicting the claims made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last poll campaign (virtual) in the state, Trinamool Congress on Friday said while the rate of crimes against women had decreased in Bengal, the same had increased in BJP-ruled states including Uttar Pradesh. The party has also dubbed the poll assurances made by Modi as 'jumlas' (fake promises).

Modi had assured of protecting women in Bengal. Rubbishing such claims, TMC highlighted that the rate of crimes against women from 2014 to 2019 was highest in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, which recorded a 56 per cent increase in the rate of such crimes.

Maharashtra and Rajasthan also witnessed a surge of 39 and 33 per cents respectively. The percentage of crimes against women in Bengal has gone down by 21 per cent since 2014.

TMC stated that Modi also assured of giving jobs to youth of Bengal when it not only failed to keep its promise of creating 1 crore jobs. Under the Modi government, the country witnessed the highest unemployment rate in the past 45 years. "This comes when there was a 40 per cent reduction in unemployment during the pandemic in Bengal. The number of IT professionals has gone up to 2.10 lakh, and 20 lakh people are indirectly employed in the sector at present. The number was 90,000 in 2010-11 in the state," TMC stated.

Moreover, the corruption cases in Gujarat are 6 per cent, when the same is 0.2 per cent in Bengal as per the 2019 NCRB data. Highlighting the points, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien tweeted: "The MO in the MO-SHA duo delivered a speech today for #BengalElection2021 Yawn if you aren't bored already, here is a 10 point #FactCheck Calling out his jumlas. One point at a time."

The Bengal government has already announced Rs 58,000 crore Jal Swapno project to provide pipeline water supply to two crore households. TMC also criticised Modi for assuring the implementation of RERA regulations in Bengal as the state government already implemented its own Housing Industry Regulation Authority (HIRA) Act three years ago.