Modi has developed habit of lying: CM

Modi has developed habit of lying: CM

Saibal.Gupta@timesgroup.com

Kolkata: 09.02.2021 

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday charged PM Narendra Modi with having “developed the habit of telling lies” and asserted that “Gujarat would not be able to rule Bengal”.

“I will be back. Some may harbour doubts but I will be back (in office),” Banerjee told MLAs during this assembly’s final session before the polls.

PM Modi, while speaking at a political programme in Haldia on Sunday, accused the Bengal government of not sharing with the Centre the farmers’ database for PM Kisan Nidhi benefits. “Modiji has developed the habit of telling lies,” Banerjee said in her response to Modi’s allegations. “Our database will not match the central government’s. Our criterion is different from theirs. We provide financial assistance to even farmers who own a cottah of land. But the Centre’s criterion for availing this scheme is a minimum of two acres of land. We have asked them to send their database so that we can verify it. So far 22 lakh farmers have registered for this programme. They have sent us a list of only 6 lakh farmers; we have already verified 2.5 lakh,” Banerjee said.

CM Banerjee greets MLAs on Monday, the last day of the assembly

Didi: We will come back with a huge mandate

Mamata Banerjee then spoke of the PM’s advance relief of Rs 1,000 crore during the Amphan disaster. “The PM came once after Amphan and announced an advance of Rs 1,000 crore. But the money came from our disaster management fund. We spent more than Rs 2,452 crore on this,” she said.

Banerjee mocked the BJPled Centre’s new-found love for Bengal and said she had never come across such a “cruel and heartless government” in her life. “They are suddenly in love with Bengal now that elections are approaching. They have even started speaking in Bengali. They are talking of Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. They are even saying Tagore was born in Santiniketan,” Banerjee said, having a dig at the BJP’s repeated slip-ups regarding Bengal’s icons.

“Let them bring a thousand people but Gujarat will not be able to rule Bengal. We will come back with a huge mandate,” she said, referring to the BJP’s plans to fly in a host of leaders from other states, including Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.

A small section of “about 1%” might have indulged in irregularities during Amphan relief distribution, Banerjee said. “But 99% did their work diligently,” she added.

Banerjee also spoke of the huge response to the Duare Sarkar scheme. “We have distributed 18 lakh caste certificates, 15 lakh old-age and widow pensions,” she said.