Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury on Wednesday alleged that an organised loot is going on in West Bengal, claiming that land mafia is ruling the roost across the state.
He reiterated his demand for the resignation of Firhad Hakim as the mayor of Kolkata, accusing the TMC-run Kolkata Municipal Corporation of being responsible for the death of at least 10 people in the collapse of an unauthorised multi-storey building in the Garden Reach area in the city.
"An organised loot is going on in Kolkata as well as in the whole of West Bengal, land mafia is ruling the roost," the Congress party leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha told reporters at his home town and constituency Baharampur.
"Illegal buildings are mushrooming across Kolkata. We do not know how many more will collapse like the one in Garden Reach," he said.
Chowdhury also asked why the TMC government was not going to the Supreme Court on the issue of alleged non-payment of dues to those who worked under the MGNREGA scheme, instead of hitting the streets on the issue.
The alleged withholding of the MGNREGA funds by the Centre has been a focal point in the state’s political discourse for the past year.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) is aimed at enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year.
Chowdhury also urged the Election Commission to ensure free and fair voting in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls, accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state of trying to use allurements and intimidation to win the elections.
West Bengal accounts for 42 Lok Sabha seats.
The Congress leader alleged that both the TMC and the BJP were "trying to divide people" in the state on religious lines to win the Lok Sabha elections, which will be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
"The TMC has no face to go to the people and seek votes, so it will have to resort to other means to win the elections," he claimed.
Asked when the Congress party, which is set to have a seat-sharing arrangement with the Left Front in the state, will release the list of its candidates for the constituencies in which it will fight the Lok Sabha polls, he said, "The names have been finalised, it will be announced by the All India Congress Committee." PTI AMR BDC
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