Kolkata: Lashing out at the Centre for what she termed as “vendetta politics”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her partymen will pray at Rajghat if permission to protest in Delhi on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary is denied.
The TMC had sought permission from Delhi Police to protest the non-release of NREGA dues to Bengal at three venues in the national capital including Rajghat where Gandhi’s ashes are kept.
“How can Delhi Police give permission [for the protest] when they are scared? They are not our enemies but they have to follow political directives. Every person can go to pay their respects to Mahatma Gandhi on Gandhi Jayanti. If they deny us permission to protest, our MPs, MLAs, and zilla parishad presidents can go and pray at Rajghat,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat on Monday.
Demanding the Centre to release NREGA funds due to Bengal without delay, the chief minister said, “They have not given us money for 100 days’ of work, roads, and Gramin Awas Yojana.” “Bengal owes Rs 1.15 lakh-crore under various heads. If they have even the slightest respect for federalism and state-Centre relations, they should release the funds at the earliest. It is not good to play politics with the poor,” she said.
She also denounced the summons sent by the Enforcement Directorate to her nephew and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who is accused in the school jobs scam as well as in another case related to cow smuggling, and termed it as a bid to “browbeat a youth leader”.
“This is political vendetta. Summoning Abhishek is unnecessary harassment and this could boomerang. There is nothing against me. They want to damage the power of our youth wing. But the youth in Bengal will not tolerate it,” Banerjee said.
“They are unnecessarily disturbing Abhishek in several ways. They have no evidence against him. To get justice, he may have to move the Supreme Court or lower courts. They constantly keep attacking my family and I don’t think it is appropriate to talk about it in the press. There is nothing against him and he is just being harassed. He is a young man and the young generation is with him,” she said.
On the arrest of former Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, Banerjee said, “I did not like the way Naidu was arrested. Actions should not be vindictive in nature.”
The Trinamool Congress supremo, who has been engaged in a war of words with the Governor CV Ananda Bose over various issues, however, made light of the letter sent by him to her saying he had simply sent her “best wishes for the upcoming foreign trip. I cannot spill the contents of a personal letter as it is confidential.”
Banerjee on Tuesday is embarking on a visit to Dubai and Spain to seek investments. “I am going abroad after five years since no permission was given to me for foreign travels, though I had several invitations,” Banerjee said.
On the Centre’s attempts to rename India as Bharat in official communications, Banerjee said the BJP-led government might be doing this because “they were concerned about the INDIA alliance.” “We do not oppose the name Bharat but there is no need to remove India. Even our passport states that we are the Republic of India. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution also mentions We, the people of India. So why should it be changed? “They have probably done this because they are concerned about the alliance.
We can also say the G20 logo had the lotus symbol in it, which is also BJP’s poll symbol. It is also a national symbol. I am not saying this to ignite a debate,” she signed off.
Describing Banerjee’s allegation of “vendetta politics” on ED summons to her nephew and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee as “baseless”, the BJP wondered whether “creating obstacles in free and fair probe” is part of the political agenda of the ruling party in the state.
“Will the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation take permission from the chief minister and Abhishek Banerjee before summoning TMC leaders accused in various graft cases? The TMC tries to malign our party by accusing us of vendetta politics when probe agencies summon their leaders.
The CBI and ED are independent agencies. “Is creating obstacles in free and fair probe part of TMC’s political agenda when its leaders are summoned by the ED and the CBI,” BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.
Reacting to the allegations of “vendetta politics” over the TMC not getting permission to hold protests in New Delhi, he said Mamata Banerjee’s party should not speak about democratic demonstrations.
“When the BJP applies for permission for democratic protest, the TMC and its police department deny it. Our party doesn’t believe in such vendetta politics. There is a proper way of conducting protest and we think the TMC, too, needs to follow the rule,” Bhattacharya said.
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