Mamata Banerjee hits out at Left Front during G20 meet, CPM fumes

Banerjee pointed out that her state’s development programmes helped increase Bengal’s GDP four-fold since she took over.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (Photo | PTI)

KOLKATA:  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the state’s erstwhile ruler Left Front while attending the G20 meeting in Kolkata, where delegates from member countries assembled for a three-day session, on Monday. ‘’When we came to power after Left Front’s 34-year regime, the state was burdened with debt and development had collapsed in all segments. During our tenure, the state’s GDP has increased four times despite the Covid-19 pandemic,’’ she said in her speech.

“We believe in giving a humane face to development,” said Banerjee, pointing out that her state’s development programmes helped increase Bengal’s GDP four-fold since she took over. The chief minister, who won a third term last year, said that despite the economic turmoil caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the state managed to create 12 million jobs, mostly in the MSME sector.

“We managed to create jobs, grow our GDP four-fold, mainly because we empowered women, small industries, farmers and youth. We are fighting against hunger and have provided free food to the poor,” she said. The CPI(M), principal ally of the Left Front, condemned Mamata’s remark saying she should not have used an international platform for political purposes.

"G20 meeting is an international platform. The chief minister’s remark about the Left Front regime in Bengal does not fit to the character of the event. I condemn her act,’’ said Sujan Chakrabarty, the central committee member of the CPI(M). The first day of the event featured an exhibition on digital innovations for advancing financial inclusion.

“We launched the ‘Government at Your Doorstep’ (Duare Sarkar) programme to ensure that people get the benefits of our development initiatives. The programme won a national award. We empowered women, farmers and MSMEs. The people in the state remained united notwithstanding the differences in religion, caste and languages,’’ Mamata said. The three-day event will also focus on remittance costs and SME finance availability, officials said.