HOOGHLY — West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday accused the NDA government of being “indifferent to the needs of the people” of her state, claiming that repeated requests to the Centre for approval of several projects have fallen on deaf ears.
In a scathing attack on the prime minister, she also said that Narendra Modi’s promise of bringing ‘achche din’ to the country was “fake and hollow”.
“What has he (Modi) done for the people in the last five years? Farmers are committing suicide and unemployment is on the rise. The price of gas cylinders have increased from Rs 450 to Rs 1000. The prime minister, it seems, is not bothered about any of these issues,” he said.
Iterating that her attempts to bring about development in the state have been stalled by the Centre on several occasions, Banerjee said her government had been trying to acquire Dunlop (ailing tyre factory) in Hooghly, but the NDA government has not cooperated in the matter.
“Over the last three years, I have been trying to take over Dunlop. All I need is a signature from the Centre. That too is pending,” she claimed.
The Trinamool Congress supremo also said that she had been pushing for a change in the state’s name - from West Bengal to Bangla - to avoid it from appearing at the bottom of lists prepared alphabetically.
“Even that proposal is still lying with the Centre,” Banerjee noted.
Continuing her tirade against Modi, she said, “Look at state-owned BSNL. Nearly 50,000 people are going to lose their jobs. When I was the railways minister, I took the initiative to bring Burn Standard under the ministry.
“The PM, however, is indifferent to the needs of the people of Bengal, even though he claims that ‘achhe din’ has arrived,” she added.