Calling BJP a party which is the “biggest pickpocket” in the country which bluffs voters before elections, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that Uttar Pradesh (UP) has reported the highest number of fake job cards but the Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Ministry has not taken any action against them.
“Despite this, the Centre has given funds to UP, but has stopped providing funds to Bengal,” Banerjee said.
She was addressing the media at Kolkata airport before leaving for the tour of North Bengal.
“In Uttar Pradesh so many job card numbers are false, why have the Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Ministry not taken any action on that? They have given them enough money. Then why have you stopped funds for 100 days of work, for rural roads, for houses, mid-day meals in Bengal?” she asked.
Banerjee also hit out at the BJP-led Centre for stopping funds for the Health Mission. “For the Health Mission, they say that they have to change the colour of the health and wellness centres according to their party (BJP) to get funding. What is this? This is not right,” she added.
She also lambasted the Modi government over repeated visits of the Central agencies to the state to investigate alleged irregularities in projects like Awas Yojana and MGNREGS. Reacting to the visit of a Central team to the state, Banerjee said that it would only serve as “political fodder” for the BJP workers.
“They are coming just to provide political fodder to BJP workers. They have sent 107 teams to West Bengal. Let them send more. They have picked pockets the most. Starting from demonetisation to depositing Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts of every citizen. They say one thing during the election and after the polls, they say something else,” Banerjee said.
Elucidating about her North Bengal tour, Banerjee said: “Day after tomorrow I have a programme in Kurseong. On December 9, I will go to Alipurduar where I have a meeting on December 10. On December 11, I will be going to Banarhat, where I have a distribution programme. I will come back to Uttarkanya on 11 and on 12th I have a programme in Siliguri. From there I will return. I will be covering four districts on my trip.”
Speaking about the ongoing Kolkata Film Festival, Banerjee said: “The coming together of Bollywood, Tollywood and Hollywood is remarkable.”