Interior Minister Amit Shah is on a two-day visit to West Bengal to campaign for the BJP
Calcutta:
Under attack from the opposition over the farm law issue, Interior Minister Amit Shah retaliated in Bengal today, targeting the Mamata Banerjee government for its refusal of central funding under the PM-Kisan scheme. Ms. Banerjee’s government had refused to implement the direct cash transfer scheme to farmers.
“They are supporting farmers’ protests, but their farmers are not receiving benefits. Farmers in the state did not receive money given by Modi ji,” Shah said during a media interaction at the end of his two-day visit. to the state.
Ms Banerjee, one of the staunchest critics of the BJP-led government, has been vociferous about the farm laws, suggesting that the BJP should either withdraw the farm laws or resign.
Trinamool’s head of Congress has repeatedly said that she supports farmers’ demands. In a series of tweets, he has even threatened to launch nationwide protests if the laws are not withdrawn.
“The Government of India should withdraw the bills against farmers. If they do not do so immediately, we will agitate across the state and the country. From the beginning, we have strongly opposed these bills against farmers,” he said in one of the tweets.
The BJP is now retaliating for West Bengal’s refusal to provide direct cash benefits to farmers. The state had asked that the money, 6,000 rupees a year for each farmer, be sent through it. The center had declined, saying that it would destroy the spirit if the direct transfer of profits if the money goes through state governments.
From BJP chief JP Nadda to West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, everyone has criticized the Chief Minister for the issue in recent days.
Mr. Shah also charged the Chief Minister with other charges. The Trinamool congressional government, he said, has destroyed the state’s economy.
“After independence, Bengal would contribute a third of GDP. It has fallen since then. Bengal’s contribution to industrial production just after independence was 30%. Now it is 3.5%. In 1960, Bengal was one of the richest states in the country. In the 1950s, Bengal produced 70 percent pharmaceuticals. Now it’s about 7 percent. Bengal’s jute industries that employed many are closed, “he said Shah. “Our sankalp is to do Bengali Shonar Bangla once more.”
He also expressed his joy at the incorporation into the party of a large number of former leaders of the Trinamool Congress.
“I warmly welcome Suvendu Adhikari to the BJP … When dynastic politics is at stake, this is what happens,” he said without naming Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee whose rise within the party has caused a storm.
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