West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Centre of using Central agencies to destabilise her government and and said the people of Bengal will not yield without a fight.
“They are trying to disturb our government using Central agencies. I know they will do it more and more before the elections. People of Bengal will not leave an inch of land without a fight, however, much you want to defame us or use agencies,” she said at a press conference. She also accused the Centre of bulldozing the federal structure.
Ms. Banerjee, while defending irregularities in cyclone Amphan relief, also raised the issue of and sought to know where is the money of Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) fund. “You are concerned about ₹25,000 of Amphan…. We did a review and even if some poor people who have taken it have returned it. What about lakhs and crores of PM Cares. Does the media know about it? Why was no audit done? The Centre keeps lecturing us,” she said.
The Chief Minister defended her government on the non-implementation of the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi ( PM KISAN) and said her West Bengal’s “Krishak Bandhu” scheme was far better than the Central scheme. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said without naming West Bengal some States were not allowing Central government benefits to reach farmers.
“We have a separate scheme for farmers, why should we listen to them? Krishak Bandhu is a far better scheme. We do not discriminate between farmers.” She also said the State government has extended benefits of Swastha Sathi to all people of the State. The non-implementation of PM Kisan and Ayushman Bharat in West Bengal has been one of major political issues raised by BJP leadership. The Chief Minister has written to Centre saying that it willing to extend the scheme provided funds are transferred through the State government.
Mamata targets CPI(M)
While referring to the irregularities in the relief distribution, Ms. Banerjee targeted the CPI (Marxist). “You are raising about ₹25,000 of Amphan that has been duly distributed the CPI(M) should be ashamed of it. They are the biggest ally of the BJP. They should be ashamed of it,” she said.
She appealed to Left supporters and said: “This is not a CPI(M) that you people know. The CPI(M) of Jyoti Babu and Buddha Babu [former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee] was lot better.”
The CPI(M) leadership retorted by calling the State government ‘shameless’. Its leader Sujan Chakraborty said there has been huge corruption in Amphan. He said the High Court has directed a probe by the CAG in the irregularities during the distribution of relief for cyclone Amphan.
