Bhagabanpur: Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of peddling falsehood among voters by promising 10 lakh jobs.
Addressing an election meeting here in Purba Medinipur district, he accused the TMC supremo of playing “divisive politics” by instilling fear among the Muslims.
“Every time before the election, she comes up with such false promise which never sees the light of day. Before the 2021 assembly polls, she had promised thousands of government jobs. But see, what happened afterwards as the appointment process by her administration itself came under cloud. BJP had no role in that but it was found in the court-monitored probe,” he said.
Suvendu Adhikari was referring to the Calcutta High Court’s order cancelling appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made through the recruitment process of State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in state-run schools, declaring the selection process as “null and void”.
Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, has dubbed BJP a “job-eater” and said the people of West Bengal would not forgive its leaders for “conspiring to snatch” the livelihood of nearly 26,000 teachers. She has also claimed that her government has another 10 lakh jobs ready.
“Her (Banerjee’s) party leaders and some state officials have been found to be involved in the biggest teacher recruitment job scam in the high court-monitored probe by central agencies and were jailed. Instead of feeling ashamed for such a situation where lakhs of educated youths are faced with uncertainty, she is accusing us,” Adhikari said.
The Nandigram BJP MLA said there could be deserving candidates among those rendered jobless in the April 22 court order, but the ruling party and the TMC government are entirely responsible for such a situation.
“Like earlier promises to hike the DA for state employees on a par with central government staff, her claim about 10 lakh jobs already made ready for the graduates is false, hollow and people of the state don’t trust her any more,” Adhikari said.
The BJP never comes in the way of creating real employment opportunities for the deserving people, he said.
“The BJP believes in a transparent, fair recruitment system and her claim about BJP conspiring to stall employment for the youths is misplaced, riddled with lies,” said Adhikari, a former TMC minister who defected to the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly elections.
The senior BJP leader accused the ruling party of making false promises of building houses for the poor under ‘Bangla Awas Yojana’.
“We are mulling whether to draw the attention of the Election Commission to such false promises as the polls are already underway,” he said.
Apprehending that the TMC may resort to violence during elections with the help of the state police, Adhikari claimed that if necessary, the central paramilitary forces will be brought to Purba Medinipur a week before the polls.
He accused the TMC supremo of playing “divisive politics” by instilling fear among the Muslims.
“An estimated 20 crore Muslims live in the country, in 18 BJP-ruled states and elsewhere. Not a single member of the community has been discriminated against by the Narendra Modi government. People like the TMC supremo are trying to polarize the society,” he said.
At a rally in Tamluk earlier in the day in support of former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Adhikari said the state government will not last long after the Lok Sabha results are out.
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