TMC alleges BJP goons indulged in Bengal poll violence and not its workers

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Friday alleged that BJP goons had indulged in violence during the panchayat elections in West Bengal and not the ruling party's cadre as claimed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address earlier in the day.

Claiming that the PM's accusations against the TMC government were untrue, West Bengal minister Sashi Panja also accused the BJP government at the Centre of depriving West Bengal of its financial dues under various schemes.

Virtually addressing the BJP's Panchayati Raj Parishad in West Bengal on Friday, the Prime Minister had earlier in the day criticised the TMC for using "terror and threats" to intimidate the opposition in the state during the rural polls held in July. "Is it because the BJP could not win the panchayat polls that terror and intimidation are being alleged? It is the BJP which indulged in violence in Bengal," Panja said, seeking to counter the PM's accusations against the Mamata Banerjee dispensation.

"The Prime Minister does not have time to visit Manipur, but does find time to address party workers in Bengal," Panja said.

Reacting to the PM castigating the opposition for walking out during the no-confidence motion, the TMC in a social media message, said, "It takes walking out of the opposition from Parliament for you to speak on Manipur." The party claimed that the opposition MPs waited patiently for 90 minutes during the PM's speech before walking out of the Parliament.

She said that it was not true that atrocities were being perpetrated upon adivasis and Dalits in Bengal.

"It is in the BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh that Dalits and adivasis are victimised," Panja asserted.

Claiming that the BJP is still unable to accept defeat in the 2021 assembly elections and 2023 panchayat polls in Bengal, Panja said that the Prime Minister is trying to paint a different picture of the TMC's victories by stating that there was violence during the polls.

Claiming that a CAG report has pointed to gaps in Ayushman Bharat and some other central schemes, Panja said that the PM should throw some light on the issue.

The TMC tweeted that according to a NITI Aayog report, West Bengal has surpassed Gujarat in tackling multidimensional poverty and out-performed the BJP-ruled state in indicators of health, education and standard of living.

She also claimed Centre owes Rs 7,500 crore to Bengal on account of MNREGA, it asked for an immediate release of the funds to the state if the PM "cares about poor families." The TMC also claimed that the BJP had itself been guilty of unleashing unprecedented violence in the 2019 rural polls in Tripura which it said saw the saffron party winning some 80 per cent without any contest. "Violence and hooliganism run in the blood of BJP," the TMC claimed in a tweet.