Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) were "full of lies", claiming no utilisation certificate (UC) was lying pending with the government during Trinamul's regime.
“You (BJP) are asking us to go through the CAG reports after you withheld funds under the 100 days’ job scheme (MGNREGS). I will urge you to ask your central government to read those reports first as everything written there is full of lies. I will not take responsibility from 2003 to 2011. I can ensure that no UC is pending during our regime. The reports are fabricated,” said Mamata in the Assembly as part of her 55-minute budget reply. The state budget was tabled on February 8.
Mamata’s comment came three days after the state panchayat and rural development minister Pradip Mazumdar on Monday submitted 65 documents in the Assembly as “proof” that UCs were submitted to the Centre under two major central schemes, the MGNREGS and the PM Awas Yojana, till 2021-22, to counter the BJP’s claim that the Bengal government failed to furnish UCs for around Rs 2.29 lakh crore.
The Narendra Modi government has frozen funds to Bengal under those two schemes since December 2021, following alleged malpractices in utilising the money. Recently, the BJP flagged CAG reports to claim it was the “mother of all scams” of the Mamata regime.
A senior Trinamul leader said although Trinamul MLAs as well as Mamata, verbally claimed that the CAG cited fabricated reports about the failure to furnish UCs, the Opposition continued its attacks.
"This is why the chief minister took it upon herself to say the state government was not at fault. If she can manage to establish that no UC was pending, it will be clear that the BJP-led centre held back funds for only political reasons,” said a Trinamul MLA.
The BJP MLAs on February 5, the first day of the budget session, sought discussion on the CAG report.
Mamata earlier this month wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying facts in CAG reports were distorted.
The BJP stuck to its claim. "If the state sent all UCs to the Centre, why are they not allowing discussions on CAG reports on the floor of the House?” asked Manoj Tigga, the BJP’s chief whip in the Assembly.