PM Modi slashed fuel prices, gave free vaccines; TMC into narrow politics over central schemes: BJP

Lashing out at Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her remarks that the country needed a prime minister for the poor, not the rich, the BJP on Thursday said the Narendra Modi government was doing its bit to reduce people's burden, unlike "a Kalighat family that is busy upgrading lifestyle". The saffron party also accused Banerjee of playing "narrow politics" over central government projects with her attempts to rename them.

"The ruling dispensation in Bengal is renaming central projects such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to steal credit. Also, TMC workers and leaders are pocketing the funds and depriving the poor and needy," BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar claimed.

Countering the CM's allegations that the Centre wasn't releasing funds for Bengal under the MGNREGA scheme, Majumdar said she should first explain why the allocations made in the past as part of the 100-day job programme "did not reach the beneficiaries".





He alleged that panchayat leaders of the ruling party are siphoning off the money.

Hitting out at the TMC supremo over her "PM for the poor" comment during the Martyrs' Day rally, Majumdar said, "By rolling back the price of petrol and diesel, which is quite opposite to the trend worldwide, and by arranging free COVID-19 vaccines and ration, Narendra Modiji has proved that he is the PM for the people. He too hails from a humble background.

"In sharp contrast, everyone in the Kalighat area knows about that one family which has changed its way of living in past four decades."

Talking to reporters, the BJP leader also said that Banerjee's call to oust the saffron party from power in 2024 will find no takers.

"Mark my words, the TMC will disintegrate on its own very soon. It will fall apart. Presently the party is being run by a small coterie from south Kolkata. Unlike the BJP, the TMC is a faction-ridden party."

He iterated that the BJP, unlike the TMC, does not believe in "throttling" opposition leaders, and the Mamata Banerjee party was free to run campaigns anywhere outside of Bengal, given that it had been trying to spread its wings far and wide.

"They attack us every time we undertake a political programme in Bengal. They believe in throttling opposition. We don't do such things," he added.

Taking a dig at the TMC boss, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said Banerjee, despite observing July 21 as Martyrs' Day in memory of 13 Youth Congress leaders who were killed in police firing, made no mention of them during her speech.

"She only kept levelling false charges against the BJP. She did a service to those Youth Congress leaders by drawing crowds on their death anniversary only to malign the BJP," Bhattacharya added.