Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday played the development card to slam “Modi ki guarantee" at a public meeting on the outskirts of Siliguri.
“Modi’s guarantee is a jumla (hoax). His guarantee is to stop providing funds for social welfare schemes and deprive common people of their due benefits. We, on the other hand, are determined to meet the promises made to people,” Mamata said at a public meeting on the outskirts of the city.
In 2019, the BJP secured a lead from Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly segment, a part of Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat. In 2021, Trinamul lost the Assembly seat to the BJP. The segment comprises 14 municipal wards of Siliguri and four contiguous gram panchayats in Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district.
“Has Trinamul done any wrong? Or else, why do you vote the BJP when we carry out development? I have seen thousands of people walk to Trinamul’s meetings, but later the BJP wins. Ask the BJP lawmakers here whom you have voted what they have done for you in the past five years,” Mamata told the crowd.
She trained guns at the saffron party on Thursday's sloganeering of "chor chor (thief, thief)" by some BJP workers at her convoy when she was on her way to a private resort in Chalsa of Jalpaiguri.
“They shouted such slogans at me. Let me say that from now on, we will come up with a new slogan 'Ghar Ghar Main Shor Hai, BJP Chor Hai (there is a clamour in every house that the BJP is a thief)'. They are the largest mafia in the country,” Mamata said.
She referred to central teams that visited Bengal to check out charges of corruption in connection with the Centre's 100 days' job scheme and housing scheme.
“Hundreds of teams came but couldn’t find anything. We have provided all relevant information to them. Still, the Centre didn’t release the funds,” Mamata said.
The chief minister was also critical of the election schedule.
“There is hardly any relevance in conducting the general election over a span of three months as all work comes to a halt (because of the model code of conduct). Now, there are civic and rural polls, Assembly elections and bypolls. Eventually, a year passes in elections during the five-year tenure of an elected government,” she said.
In north Bengal, especially in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri parliamentary seats, the BJP has started underscoring the infrastructural development to improve connectivity. BJP leaders and candidates are speaking of new and wider roads, railway connectivity and the Bagdogra airport upgrade.
On Saturday, Mamata emphasised she initiated a slew of railway projects and introduced new trains during her tenure as Union railway minister. “We gave land for roads and the expansion of the Bagdogra airport. The BJP has not done anything for the region other than making empty promises,” she said.
