KOLKATA: BJP’s turf turned into the epicentre of Bengal politics on Tuesday, as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her former lieutenant-turned-present leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, standing in the small town of Siliguri in north Bengal, accused each other’s party of depriving the people of the state.
Mamata will visit Delhi end of this week to attend the INDIA bloc’s meeting and a protest event against the state’s dues from the Centre. The Prime Minister’s office on Tuesday approved her request for a meeting with Modi informing her that the PM will meet her around 11 am on December 20.
A war of words between Mamata and Adhikari, who defeated her in Nandigram in East Midnapore in the high-octane 2021 Assembly polls, broke out in Siliguri on Tuesday as the Trinamool Congress supremo lambasted the BJP-led Centre for not funding the schemes meant for minorities and backward class people while Adhikari hit back saying the people of north Bengal had realised her “hatred” for them four years ago, in the 2023 general elections, and as a result, the saffron camp bagged seven Lok Sabha seats out of eight in the northern part of the state.
“The Centre is behaving step-motherly with the people of Bengal. They are not giving us funds meant for several welfare schemes that target minorities and backward-class people as beneficiaries. They are not even releasing funds for constructing roads in rural Bengal. The Centre already sent 108 teams to Bengal and showed no interest to clear the state’s dues, including Bengal’s stake in the GST,” lashed out Mamata while addressing a rally at Kanchanjangha stadium during her four-day trip to north Bengal.
Adhikari, who was also in the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district, described Mamata’s north Bengal visit as a tourist venture and her allegations against the Centre as a move to hoodwink the people of the region.
“She comes to north Bengal as a tourist. What North Bengal thinks today, Bengal thinks tomorrow. The people living here realised her real face of ‘honesty’ four years ago. They realised her hatred for North Bengal. As a result, we won seven out of eight Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general elections in North Bengal. We will get all seats in the northern region in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and our party’s tally will also increase to a significant figure in south Bengal as well. Before elections, the chief minister comes to north Bengal to hoodwink the people living here,” said Adhikari.
The BJP won 18 LS seats out of 42 in Bengal in the 2019 general elections.