NEW DELHI: With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making a determined bid to make inroads in West Bengal, the party’s think tank, the Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), brought out a report on manifestos of the Trinamool (formerly named Trinamool Congress) from the 2011 and 2016 Assembly polls to highlight that 70 per cent of the promises have not yet been fulfilled. It also alleged that the state has the worst crime record in the country, including against women.
“Our study found that 77 promises from the 2016 manifesto are unfulfilled, which is almost 70 per cent. Out of the 77 unfulfilled promises, almost 27 promises were also promised in the 2011 manifesto, but are not fulfilled,” PPRC head Sumeet Bhasin said.
The report claimed that West Bengal recorded 27 incidents of violence in 2015 in which five persons had died and 84 suffered injuries. “The number of incidents almost doubled by 2017 when 58 incidents of violence were recorded, in which nine people lost their lives and 230 were injured. West Bengal stands fifth highest in the country, when it comes to crimes against children,” the report stated, while quoting from data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The research, which will be used by the BJP in its electioneering in the state, also stated that West Bengal tops the list when it comes to crimes committed by foreigners. “West Bengal recorded 76 incidents of acid attack and about 83 victims, accounting for 26 per cent of total incidents and 27 per cent of total victims in India. West Bengal recorded 19,305 cases of cruelty by husband or his relatives against women,” it added.
The state is not only the highest contributor to human trafficking, but it alone accounts for 44 per cent of all cases nationally, alleged the BJP think tank.