West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday left for a three-day trip to New Delhi where she is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (December 20). The Trinamool Congress chairperson also said that she would attend the meeting of the Opposition INDIA alliance on Tuesday (December 19).
“On 19th, I will attend the INDIA alliance meeting and on the 20th, I will meet the Prime Minister at 11 a.m. I will take along a few MPs with me. Following this, I will return to Bengal,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists before leaving for the national capital. Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has also accompanied the Chief Minister to Delhi.
“They [Centre] have stopped our funds and are not willing to release our dues. Bengal is the only State whose funds have been withheld. Funds have been stopped for our Banglar Bari scheme. We have finalised a list of 11 lakh beneficiaries, but even then our funds have been withheld. They [Centre ] have done the same for the Grameen Sadak Yojana,” the Chief Minister said. Ms. Banerjee said she had met the Prime Minister thrice regarding this issue and again and her government had passed a resolution in the Assembly on the issue.
The issue of delay in release of funds to key Central schemes such as the MGNREGA has emerged as an important political issue in the State and Ms. Banerjee has claimed that the Centre owes ₹1.15 lakh crore to the State.
Expressing her displeasure over the delay in release of funds, the Chief Minister said the Centre had stopped the funds for the Health department also because they want us to paint everything saffron. “We already have a brand [colour] in our State — white and blue. This is not the colour of our party. Is it justified that everywhere they will put the BJP’s logo and paint the buildings saffron?,” she asked.
‘A serious lapse’
The Trinamool Congress chairperson described the Parliament security breach as a serious security lapse.
“This is a very serious matter and there is no doubt about that. It was a security lapse and the Home Minister also admitted that. Let them [the Centre] investigate the matter. We don’t compromise on our security. It was a grave security lapse for the new Parliament,” she said. While referring to the suspension of MPs in the Parliament, Ms. Banerjee said when MPs including Derek O’ Brien protested against the security breach they were suspended.
Asked about the Kolkata connection of the accused in the security breach, Ms. Banerjee said the accused had no connection with Bengal. “He has some connection with Jharkhand or some other States, I am not sure about this,” she added.
Reacting to Ms. Banerjee’s visit to Delhi, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the visit would turn out to be a ‘big zero’. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership in West Bengal alleged that the Chief Minister meeting the Prime Minister a day after the meeting of INDIA alliance was an attempt at ‘setting’ between the BJP and Trinamool ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
