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No let up in Congress-Trinamool war of words
Saturday February 11, 2012 03:19:44 PM,
Anurag Dey,
IANS
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Kolkata: The Congress
and Trinamool Congress have again chosen to stay on the collision
path over the release of central funds for the cash-strapped West
Bengal government.
It all began when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a scathing
attack on the central government for being 'insensitive' to the
financial crisis.
She thundered: "If the state doesn't gets its dues, the people of
Bengal know how to get it".
According to her, Bengal was debt ridden by over Rs. 2.3 lakh
crore, 94 percent of its earnings go towards salaries, interest
payments to the centre and pensions. With what remained, it was
tough to run the state.
Rubbishing Banerjee, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said
since her government took over the reins, it had been allotted
Rs.7,800 crore by the central government.
Singhvi's remark ignited a chain reaction as leaders from both the
partied tried to outdo each other.
The Trinamool launched a two-pronged attack led by Finance
Minister Amit Mitra and Food Minister Jyoti Priya Mullick.
Mitra accused the Congress of giving out "absolutely incorrect
information". He said Bengal had not got a "single paisa" from New
Delhi.
Mullick accused "lobbyists" of colonising New Delhi. He said the
central government was not giving funds to buy paddy from the
farmers. "We need a one time grant of Rs.2,000 crore but the
centre is not giving it."
The minister declined to attend a meeting scheduled Feb 8 and 9:
"I will send my officers instead. It is futile to go to Delhi
which is home to lobbyists. I cannot indulge in that dirty game."
Singhvi returned the compliment. He marshalled statistics to back
his claims and accused the Banerjee government of "deliberately
attempting to understate and suppress central assistance".
"It is true that I am not an economist. an eminent economist and
finance minister of West Bengal did not know these figures or did
not care to find them out or did not want to talk about them."
The spar continued with Mitra reiterating his earlier stand, with
a rider that whatever the state got was its constitutional right.
As the tug of war continued, the Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M) announced that the Left Front would support the state
government if its demands were based on principle.
(Anurag Dey can be contacted at deyvil@gmail.com)
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