Abhishek challenges Nadda to produce report card of Centre’s performance

Kolkata: Within hours of BJP president JP Nadda training his guns at the ruling party in the state, Trinamool’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has challenged him to produce a report card of the work done by the Central government which can be compared to that of the state’s performance.

“I would challenge BJP chief JP Nadda, the next time he’s here in Bengal, he should select a media house of his choice, and bring his report card and I will get the Bengal government’s report card. We will then compare what the BJP-led Central government has done for Bengal, and what Trinamool Congress government has done for the State,” said Abhishek, adding: “Let us also compare the work your government has done in states governed by BJP, be it Gujarat or Tripura, and what Trinamool Congress has done for Bengal.” Abhishek left for Delhi on Sunday evening and will be heading to Tripura on Monday.

Banerjee also doubted whether the BJP will be able to field candidates in all the seats in Bengal Panchayat polls. Abhishek said that the BJP must fight democratically.

“I believe politics should be done based on work done, and not based on religion. Water, roads, education, health, and economic conditions are the things on which we practice our politics” he said.

“BJP President JP Nadda has, earlier too, made lofty claims but his statements rarely translate to work on the ground. These BJP politicians need to realise that just making claims won’t fetch you votes, you have to work on the ground, something which Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress have done and continue to do” said Abhishek.

Replying to Nadda’s claim that Bengal is unsafe for women, Abhishek said: “BJP leaders are going around town claiming that Bengal is an unsafe place. If that is the case, why does the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, which is prepared by the Central government, claims that Bengal and Kolkata remain the safest places for women? The NCRB report, in fact, states that Uttar Pradesh tops the list of states when it comes to crime against women.”

On the death of a youth in Cooch Behar, he said: “BJP leaders need to come clean on why Prem Kumar Barman was shot. We give them a 48-hour deadline, if they don’t come clean, we will democratically raise our voice against the MoS (Home) Nisith Pramanik. We will even approach the High Court and the Supreme Court, and bring all the guilty to the book.”