BJP hails West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's investment drive

KOLKATA: BJP has welcomed Mamata Banerjee's initiative to bring industrial investment in Bengal, but at the same time, decided to highlight some propaganda being made by Mamata's government which claimed that the state had received an investment worth Rs 2.43 lakh crore in the past five years.

BJP has decided to run some jingles through Radio Mirchi for three days from Friday denying Mamata's campaign which claimed that the state has received investment worth Rs 2.43 lakh crore. The party will also urge the people of Bengal to vote for them in the ensuing Assembly polls in the state.

The two-day Bengal Global Business Summit will begin here on Friday and heavyweight Union ministers like finance minister Arun Jaitley, minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari and railway minister Suresh Prabhu will attend the inaugural session of the summit on Friday.

Last year too, Jaitley had attended the summit and assured Mamata's government all sorts of help to improve Bengal's economic condition.

Despite the fact that three of their ministers will be here on Friday, BJP has made it clear that their government in Delhi will provide all sorts of help and support to Mamata Banerjee, but would not spare her politically since Assembly elections in Bengal will take place within coming four months.

“We welcome federal competition and therefore Bengal summit is good and Central government is committed to helping investment into the state. But it is important that there is an environment for investment. Un fortunately, incident like Kaliachowk in Malda and syndicate system under Trinamool Congress does not help industrialization," BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh told ET on Thursday.

Denying Mamata government's claim that the state had received investment worth Rs 2.43 lakh crore in the past five years, Singh said "time for story telling is over which has been on for the last 39 years. Time for truth has come which only BJP can ensure for Bengal. In fact, in the past five years, the state has received an investment worth Rs 6,871 crore."

Singh also said that they will run campaigns through Radio Mirch in the coming three days refuting Bengal government's claim about the volume of investment it has received in the past five years. "Our campaigns through Radio Mirchi will run for three days from January 8," he added.