BJP leader Adhikari visits Secretariat, contradicts Mamata's claims

The Leader of Opposition observed that the State government was reluctant to implement Centre’s scheme.

Kolkata: On a day when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, back in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari, apparently countering the development, reached out to the state’s Chief Secretary with “grievances”. Incidentally, Banerjee, and Adhikari, both, wrote to the prime minister on Wednesday with their own set of issues.

Accompanied by three other BJP MLAs on the unscheduled visit, Adhikari raised several issues.

“When the chief minister of WB is raking up the issue of cooperative federalism in New Delhi, why is her govt & administration shying away from cooperative governance in Bengal?” the leader stated on X.

Further, Adhikari in his long post sharing the concerns that took him to the secretariat, has asked why the BJP leaders – MLAs, and MPs – are not invited at the “administrative seminars”, organised in the districts. He mentioned the four recent meetings held in north Bengal.

The leader observed that the state government is “reluctant to implement” Centre’s schemes, namely, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, PM Vishwakarma Yojana, providing 75 lakh new gas connections under Ujjwala 2.0. “Why are people across WB being deprived from availing the benefits of various govt schemes, just because they are BJP Supporters or have voted in favour of BJP? Why this pick & choose policy?” he alleged.

Alleging that administrative officials “refuse” to the BJP MLAs, and do not answer calls, Adhikari mentioned that “we” – who met the top administrative officer – “advised the Chief Secretary to do his duty in an impartial manner and ask his administration to mend their ways….”

In Delhi, Banerjee met PM Modi with a nine-member delegation. The meeting was regarding the “plight of Bengal's rural poor who have been robbed of their rightful entitlements”, the Trinamool mentioned on X. The Trinamool stated that the meeting has set the “stage for crucial joint deliberations” between officials from the state and the Centre. The chief minister’s visit was about the Centre’s freeze of funds to the state for public welfare schemes, namely the 100-day rural job scheme.

Banerjee’s letter to the prime minister talks about Bengal’s “pressing demands”. “She emphasised that despite Bengal’s excellent performance, its share of resources from the central pool remains unreleased,” the Trinamool stated. “Millions have been pushed into an untold misery and poverty, as funds for major centrally-sponsored schemes have been withheld,” the party added.

Adhikari, on the other hand, stated that his letter illustrates “how innumerous irregularities, unabated financial scams & unbridled corruption in West Bengal has led to wastage and siphoning of thousands of crores of Central govt funds.