The Mamata Banerjee-led party accused Shah of presenting false data on funds spent by the Centre on various schemes, and criticised him for reviving the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act.(File)
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday said Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech at the BJP’s virtual rally was “devoid of substance”, and claimed that the saffron party’s priority was next year’s state Assembly polls and “not overcoming the coronavirus challenge”.
The party claimed the BJP was “hungry for votes” at a time the state was battling the double crises brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, and Cyclone Amphan.
“At a time when the state is battling a pandemic and a natural disaster, Amit Shah’s priorities are crystal clear. Bengal, remember the face of this man who is just hungry for your votes and nothing else,” tweeted Senior TMC leader and state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee.
.@AmitShah‘s priorities are crystal clear even when the state is battling with a pandemic and a natural disaster. Bengal, remember the face of this man who is just hungry for your votes and nothing else. https://t.co/yf0M1uXKVd#BengalRejectsAmitShah
— Partha Chatterjee (@itspcofficial) June 9, 2020
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The Mamata Banerjee-led party accused Shah of presenting false data on funds spent by the Centre on various schemes, and criticised him for reviving the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act, which had triggered a major political controversy in the state earlier this year.
“Covid-19 and Cyclone Amphan are our focus. But since Shah raised the issue of CAA, we need to answer. The rules for the CAA had to be notified within six months and the duration ends this week. Now they will seek another six months’ extension and revive the issue in December, which will be barely three months before the elections. They care for nothing other than votes,” the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said at an online press conference.
O’Brien was accompanied by state Finance Minister Amit Mitra, and Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Trivedi. Mitra tore into the Centre for not giving cash to people amid an economic crisis caused by the pandemic.
“The whole world is aiding people with cash to create demand in the market so that investments resume. What are you doing? Banks are putting money back to the Reserve Bank of India. The fiscal stimulation is only 1% of the GDP. Migrant workers have not been given any cash assistance. The only cash in-flow has been for the MGNREGA,” Mitra said. He alleged that the Centre owes West Bengal Rs 53,000 crore in dues, in addition to the money sought as compensation for the damage caused by Amphan.
O’Brien dismissed Shah’s allegations that Bengal had failed to create jobs and was the only state marred by political violence and communal riots during the ongoing lockdown. He said the TMC government had fared better than BJP-ruled states in combating communal violence, and job creation.
“According to the report of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the national unemployment rate is 23.5%, while in Haryana it’s 35%, in Madhya Pradesh 27%, in Uttar Pradesh 21%, and in Karnataka 20.4%, whereas Bengal has it at 17.4%,” said the MP.
Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said Shah’s speech was full of rhetoric, and asked why he had been silent on the India-China standoff.
“As usual, the speech of Amit Shah ji was all rhetoric and no substance. Nonetheless, since he has talked about his dream of seeing ‘Exit’ of TMC, I would like to ask him one more time — ‘When are the Chinese exiting our territory’,” Banerjee tweeted along with hashtag #BengalrejectsAmitShah.
O’Brien also addressed the matter at the press meeting. “Since Shah has been living in virtual reality, let us bring him back to reality by asking: Has China made any incursions to Indian territory?” he asked.