Didi: Shah piling up a ‘garbage of lies’ – Times of India

Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday criticised Union home minister Amit Shah for piling up a “garbage of lies” and said she would travel to Birbhum on December 28-29 for an administrative meeting and a “public rally with locals (rangamatir manush)”. Banerjee said she would keep opposing CAA-NRC-NPR till they were withdrawn, saying BJP “cannot decide the fate of citizens. Let them decide their own fate”.
Banerjee on Monday also wrote a letter to Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, reiterating that the Centre should disburse its allocation under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme through Bengal and the state will provide a detailed list of beneficiaries.
“He is the Union home minister. He needs to cross-check facts before reading out whatever is being given to him by party workers. He is spreading lies. This doesn’t behove a Union home minister. I will respond with facts after the state cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Just to say, it is the Union government which has acknowledged the work done in Bengal in MSME and construction of rural roads,” Banerjee said at Nabanna.
Asked if Shah’s “CAA-after-vaccine” comment indicated a possible backtracking, Banerjee alleged that for politics, “BJP can do anything, say anything”. “From the time they passed CAA, we are protesting. I said every citizen of this country is a citizen. Whoever came before 1971 are citizens. All Matuas are citizens. We have recognised all refugee colonies in Bengal. We are against NRC, NPR and CAA. We will keep opposing till these are repealed,” she said.
A day after Shah spent over three hours at Santiniketan touching upon all the important landmarks of Visva Bharati in a bid to connect with the Bengali psyche that revolves round Tagore, Banerjee lashed out, saying: “Any insult to Tagore will not be tolerated. Those who are raising questions about Tagore’s national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, let it be very clear that this song is aimed to worship our motherland. I am ready to give my blood but will not allow any insult to Tagore. They need to learn about Tagore before saying anything.”
Criticising Shah’s comments on Bengal’s reluctance to implement central schemes, Banerjee said under the state’s Swasthya Sathi scheme, of the 42 lakh applications received 27.1 lakh have been accepted and 4.7 lakh issued health cards.
“While in the Ayushman project the Centre is giving 60%, in our health scheme we give full benefit. Only 1 crore people will be covered in the central project, but in Bengal 10 crore people will get the health card benefit.”
The CM added: “The state scheme for farmers — Krishak Bandhu — is very popular and even farmers with one acre or less land are entitled to Rs 5,000 per annum assistance and in case of death within 60 years, the family will get Rs 2 lakh. Even marginal farmers will benefit.”