Jagdeep Dhankhar has been placed directly as an antagonist of Mamata Banerjee. (Archive)
Calcutta:
An unwavering ally of the BJP in its fight with West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar echoed on Friday Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attack on the Trinamool state government over its agricultural policies.
“It is a matter of concern to me that farmers in West Bengal cannot benefit from Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. As Governor, I have repeatedly approached the Chief Minister regarding this issue, but none of my letters were answered,” he said. Dhankhar. as the ANI news agency says.
The governor’s line was a faithful reproduction of Prime Minister Modi’s invective against Mamata Banerjee in which he targeted the prime minister in the middle of a bitter confrontation between the BJP and Trinamool ahead of next year’s assembly elections.
The prime minister lashed out at Ms Banerjee, accusing his government of “destroying” the state and depriving its more than 70 lakh farmers of the benefits of the center’s flagship PM-KISAN program, under which 6,000 rupees are given to the center. year to each farmer.
“Today I regret that more than 70 lakh farmers in West Bengal have not been able to reap the benefits of Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi. More than 23 lakh farmers in Bengal have submitted online applications to take advantage of this scheme. But the state government has stopped the verification process for so long, “said Prime Minister Modi, addressing a virtual event after releasing more than 18 billion rupees to more than 9 million farming families at a time when he is facing the largest protests from farmers in their six-year term.
Ms. Banerjee promptly responded, accusing the Prime Minister of trying to mislead people with half-truths and distorted facts about the welfare program. She blamed the prime minister for scoring political points through a televised speech rather than working proactively to solve her problems.
“While he (Prime Minister Modi) publicly stated his intention to help farmers in WB (West Bengal) through his Prime Minister Kisan Yojana and alleges the lack of cooperation from the state government, the fact is that he is trying to mislead people with a half truth and distorted facts, “Banerjee said in a statement.
Ms Banerjee said that her government has always been willing to cooperate in the interests of farmers and has written two letters to the Union Minister of Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar, and even spoke with him two days ago.
As a representative of the central government in the state, the Governor of Bengal has directly positioned himself as an antagonist to Mamata Banerjee since his appointment last year and often supports the long-running BJP campaign to overthrow the Chief Minister.
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