Mamata Banerjee attacked centre in Junglemahal

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today designed her election campaign by attacking centre in a public meeting in Junglemahal today. TMC leaders claimed that this is the first such meeting in which ‘ Didi’ set the pitch for the electoral battle. And her target is BJP government at centre. Saying that centre does not do ‘favour’ by allocating funds to the state, she says, “The funds go to centre from the revenue we earn. And the centre gives us a a small amount from that. So it is not a favour they are doing to us.”

“Centre thinks it is doing us a favour by giving us funds. The truth is the money is taken from our revenues,” Banerjee added. The chief minister is on a three day tour to Junglemahal after which she would go to north Bengal on another administrative tour.

Criticizing the centre she said, “We believe in development. Jangalmahal is smiling. We have a social responsibility. Centre has stopped giving funds for several schemes. Those who say that no progress is happening in Bengal, GSDP growth of Bengal is higher than national GDP.” Banerjee, however, maintained that her government has done maximum development in Junglemahal and in the state as well.

“We have started 13 new universities in four years. Polytechnic colleges are coming up in every sub-division. We have started setting up fair price diagnostic centres. Poor people can now afford MRI, CT scans, and dialysis. We started fair price medicine shops. Beds are given for free in Bengal hospitals. We have set up critical care units across districts and sub-division. Poor people get healthcare for free.

Announcing that around 3 crore more people will get rice at Rs 3 per kg, she said, “Work is going on for the scheme. Around 3.2 crore people out of 9 crore people in Bengal get rice at Rs 2/kg. Centre is not giving funds for ration system. Yet we are giving benefits to people from state’s finances.”