‘Hungry only for votes’: TMC attacks BJP after Amit Shah’s virtual rally

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‘Hungry only for votes’: TMC attacks BJP after Amit Shah’s virtual rally

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June 9, 2020

‘Hungry only for votes’: TMC attacks BJP after Amit Shah’s virtual rally

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Hours after union home minister Amit Shah’s call on Tuesday to end the Mamata Banerjee regime in the Bengal Assembly elections next year, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of focusing on politics instead of Covid-19, the border stand-off with China and, for Bengal in particular, dealing with the post-cyclone relief and reconstruction.

Derek O'Brien wearing glasses and smiling at the camera: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien said Union Home Minister Amit Shah raised the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act with an eye on Bengal’s Assembly elections next year. (HT FILE PHOTO)

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Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O’Brien said Union Home Minister Amit Shah raised the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act with an eye on Bengal’s Assembly elections next year. (HT FILE PHOTO)

TMC accused Shah of presenting false data on funds spent by the Centre on various schemes and targeted him for reviving the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which had triggered a major political controversy in Bengal and many other parts of the country in 2019.

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“Covid-19 and cyclone Amphan are our focus. But since Shah raised the issue of CAA, we need to answer. The rules for the CAA had to be notified within six months and the duration ends this week. Now they will seek another six months’ extension and revive the issue in December, which will be barely three months before the elections. They care for nothing other than votes,” TMC national spokesperson Derek O’Brien said while addressing a press meet held over videoconferencing.

Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra and TMC Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Trivedi were also present at the press meet.

Responding to Shah’s allegations that Bengal was the only state marred by political violence and even communal riots amidst the lockdown, and that the TMC government failed to create jobs, O’Brien said that Bengal fared better than BJP-ruled state both in terms of combating communal violence and job creation.

“Incidence of communal violence is 28 times more in Bihar, 16 times more in Maharashtra, 8 times more in Haryana, 7 times more in Gujarat and 4 times more in Madhya Pradesh, according to NCRB’s data for 2018 which comes from the Union home ministry,” said O’Brien, TMC’s leader in Rajya Sabha.

“According the report of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the national unemployment rate is 23.5%, while in Haryana its 35%, in Madhya Pradesh 27%, in Uttar Pradesh 21%, and in Karnataka 20.4%, whereas Bengal has it at 17.4%,” O’Brien added.

Mitra slammed the Centre for not giving cash in the hands of the people amidst the economic crisis over the pandemic. “The whole world is aiding people with cash to create demand in the market so that investments resume. What are you doing? Banks are putting money back to the Reserve Bank of India. The fiscal stimulation is only 1% of the GDP. Migrant workers have not been given any cash assistance. The only cash in-flow has been for the MGNREGA,” Mitra asked.

Mitra alleged that the Centre was not paying Bengal Rs 53,000 crore of due, which excludes the losses due to cyclone Amphan.

TMC also upped the ante on the issue of the border standoff with China. After Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and TMC youth wing chief Abhishek Banerjee took to Twitter to ask Shah if China were occupying Indian territories, O’Brien asked in the evening, “Since Shah has been living in virtual reality, let us bring him back to reality by asking: Has China made any incursions to Indian territory?”

TMC leaders said that the party would stand by the government on any question of external aggression.

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