Bengal left empty handed: Mamata Banerjee on video conference with PM
Kolkata/UNI: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that West Bengal gained nothing from her interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the video conference and was left empty-handed.
"The Centre is yet to clear the legitimate financial dues of the state, " she claimed.
“I have raised several issues during the meeting with PM. But I must say we always return empty-handed after our meetings with the PM. We are yet to get our dues, ” the Chief Minister noted.
Referring to the "communal" clashes that broke out in Hooghly district last week, she said action will be taken against those found guilty.
Banerjee slammed a section of BJP leaders for allegedly instigating communal clashes and said those found guilty will not be spared.
“Stern action will be taken against those involved in communal clashes amid the lockdown. No one will be spared if found guilty, " she added.
"People are already under so much stress due to this COVID-19 crisis. Add to that, some leaders are writing provocative posts to create problems, " she alleged.
Referring to the migrant workers, she said about one lakh migrant workers had already returned to Bengal and there would be 100 more such trains to bring back the others.
“No one should worry. Even our government is taking necessary measures to bring back the migrant labourers stranded in various parts of India,” Banerjee said adding everyone would be brought back to Bengal.
Earlier, in a letter to the chief minister, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the state government wasn't allowing trains to reach Bengal and warned this would make life even harder for them.
"This is injustice to West Bengal migrant labourers," he said.
Shah wrote that it "pains" him that the Bengal government "is not cooperating in this regard. "
The migrant issue appears to be a new flashpoint between the Centre and West Bengal, run by two fierce political rivals.
The Centre has criticised West Bengal several times on its Covid-19 management, including its level of testing and its mortality rate, which at 13.2% is the highest in the country.
The Inter-Ministerial Central Team that visited Kolkata, Howrah, and certain other districts in West Bengal, to check its Coronavirus preparation, has accused it of low testing, weak surveillance, and discrepancies in reporting cases.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.