Trinamul Congress leaders lambasted the BJP for spreading canards against the party by circulating malicious propaganda that Bengal government has not submitted utilisation certificates from 202-03 to 2020-21. Chief Minister Miss Mamata Banerjee has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi clarifying that in the period 2002- 03 to 2010-11 her party Trinamul Congress was not in power, and asking how her party could be held responsible for not submitting utilisation certificates.

Addressing the media this afternoon, Mr Kunal Ghosh state general secretary of Trinamul Congress, said as the Left Front was in power from 2002-03 till 2010-11, the Trinamul Congress would not take any responsibility for not submitting utilisation certificate. He said after Trinamul Congress came to power, utilisation certificates had been submitted to the respective departments for central funds as per given protocols within the specified timeline. As the state government had sent the utilisation certificates, the next tranche of funds had been released. He said: “Deliberately the CAG’s statements have been twisted and the saffron party is engaged in malicious propaganda against Trinamul Congress. Coming down heavily on the BJP-led Centre, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Trinamul Congress MP, said the BJP did not ever think about the poor.

“In October 2023 we held a protest rally in Delhi under the leadership of Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the party and a dharna at Raj Ghat on this issue. Later, when we tried to meet the Minister of State for Rural Development in her office we were assaulted. The Centre has not made any statement when they would clear the dues of the schemes like MGNREGA, house for the poor and others.” She said Miss Banerjee’s schemes for the farmers have helped them to treble their income.

“When she came to power it was Rs 90,000 which has now gone upto Rs 3 lakh. There is every document which the BJP leaders can easily check, but they will not do that and continue to speak volume of lies,” she remarked. Mr Derek O’Brien said: “Miss Mamata Banerjee’s announcement to combat BJP’s fiscal federal terrorism that involves depriving Bengal of its dues is a historic announcement.

The BJP should see her credibility that Miss Banerjee has said she would clear the dues of 21 lakh MNREGA workers by 21 February,” he said, adding: “The Union government, according to an Act of Parliament, is supposed to clear the dues within 15 days of work.” He said while the Indian economy is growing at 7 per cent, the economy in Bengal is growing at 8.4 per cent. Even in GST revenue growth, at 24 per cent, Bengal has crossed the national average of 12 per cent, according to data available with the Government of India.

He said the Centre is silent on the issue as to how loans amounting to Rs 12,00,000 crore have been written off. The saffron party is also on the fact silent that no utilisation certificates relating to thousands of crores of funds were submitted by the BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand.