TMC will soon cease to be even a state party: Suvendu Adhikari

Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday mocked the TMC for losing the national party status, claiming that it would soon cease to be even a state party.

The Election Commission withdrew the national party status of the Trinamool Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Monday.

"The TMC is a party of thieves and crooks... Its dream of emerging as a national force is shattered. The day is not far away when the TMC would cease to be even a state party," Adhikari said, addressing a rally in Uttar Dinajpur district.

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Terming the TMC as the “most corrupt party in the country”, the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly also hit out at the state government over a recent report by the Union Education Ministry, which pointed to financial discrepancies.

"Look at any state government sector or department, you will find corruption to the tune of hundreds of crores. The TMC leaders have left no stone unturned to loot people of the state. The recent report by the education ministry indicates corruption even in implementing the mid-day meal scheme," he said.

The West Bengal government has dubbed the report finding "serious discrepancies in the information submitted regarding the number of meals served at various levels" as "one-sided", where the views of the state have not been noted and the data "needs to be verified".

In January, the ministry constituted a 'joint review mission' (JRM) to assess implementation of the centrally sponsored PM POSHAN scheme in West Bengal, following complaints of irregularities.

The panel found that serving around 16 crore mid-day meals worth more than Rs 100 crore was over-reported by the local administration in West Bengal from April to September last year.

Meanwhile, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh dubbed Adhikari’s allegations as "baseless".

"Nobody takes him seriously, not even the BJP. The charges made by him are baseless. He is a political opportunist, who lacks credibility. The TMC may have lost its national party status, but is still a potent force to take on the BJP in West Bengal," he asserted.