Mamata Banerjee on Friday held Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) responsible for the pause on the flow of funds to Bengal, making it clear that the narrative of central deprivation would be the main plank of the Trinamul Congress’s campaign in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
After launching a 48-hour dharna against the Centre for its allegedly step-motherly treatment of Bengal from a dais near BR Ambedkar’s statue on Red Road here, the chief minister announced that the agitation would continue till mid-February in Calcutta and later move to other parts of the state.
She alleged that the CAG had fabricated charges against the Trinamul government while preparing the state finance audit report for 2020-21 by reporting that Bengal had delayed the submission of utilisation certificates of Rs 2,29,099 crore sent to various departments between 2002-03 and 2020-21.
“I have written a letter to the Prime Minister saying that facts have been distorted. I can’t take responsibility for the government’s activities since 2003 as Trinamul was a baby then. I have written that between 2011 and 2021 when we were in power, all utilisation certificates were submitted. As the Centre was happy with the utilisation certificates, further allotments were made,” the chief minister said.
Sources in Trinamul said Mamata had referred to the CAG as the Prime Minister had apparently asked senior party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay to go through the CAG report when he had approached Narendra Modi with a request to clear the central dues.
The chief minister criticised Modi for not taking any initiatives to release funds even after she had held a meeting with him, along with a delegation of party MPs, on December 19. The state demands the release of funds under central schemes for rural areas like those for employment, housing and roads.
“I have never seen such a vindictive government.... I met him (Prime Minister) three times (over this issue). Last time it was decided that officials of central and state governments would hold meetings and sort out the issue. Two months have passed since then. Why were funds not released yet?” asked the chief minister.
A source in Trinamul said holding Modi responsible for the funds freeze was part of a political strategy to create pressure on the Prime Minister — through a large campaign across the state — to come clean on the issue.
The chief minister said quoting two lines in Bengali during the election campaign would not be enough to woo the people of Bengal.
“Where is the money under the 100-day job scheme? Why did 11 lakh people not get their homes yet even though their names were cleared last year?” she asked.
Mamata said even though the Centre had tried to choke the state by holding back the funds under various schemes, the state had done well with its own money.
“Earlier, when funds were used to be released under the 100 days job scheme, people used to get 40 days’ job on an average every year. But this year, we gave 42 days’ job with our funds,” said the chief minister, adding that stopping the flow of the funds was a criminal offence since it was a constitutional obligation to give jobs to the rural populace under MGNREGA.
Sources in the state administration said Trinamul was cleverly seeking to corner the central government on the funds issue.
“During the large part of its 34-year tenure in Bengal, particularly when Jyoti Basu was the chief minister, the CPM had secured electoral success by playing the victim card,” said a source.