Condemning the Centre‘s policy of asset monetisation to monetise Rs 6 lakh crore worth of state-owned assets over the next four years, chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said these assets cannot be sold as these belong to
the country and not to Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the BJP.

“These aren’t Modi’s or BJP’s assets. These assets belong to the country. The PM can’t sell the country’s assets like this. It is not the BJP party’s own affair but it is the country’s affair. This is an unfortunate decision and I’m shocked by it. Many people will join me in condemning this decision,” Banerjee told at a press conference in Nabanna.

She said that they (read the BJP) cannot do anything so they are selling the country. “They are selling the Railways, public sector, insurance…. They want to sell off everything. The money earned will be kept in the ‘reserve bhandar’. They will hold elections and remain in power. I don’t support this government,” she said.

“They should first save the county and then visit Bengal. They visited our state as daily passengers (prior to the Assembly elections) and the result was seen by all,” she said referring to the frequent visits of central teams to assess various developmental projects.

Announcing that West Bengal has bagged the first position in ‘Banglar Bari’ scheme today, Banerjee said the state ranks first in MGNREGA, Banglar Awas Yojana, Skill Development and MSME. “There are so many areas in which our state occupies the first position. Let them first work hard like us,” she added. Banerjee further slammed the BJP over the recent demand of separate state or Union Territory comprising districts of North Bengal saying neither can the country run at the will of the BJP leaders nor West Bengal be divided as per whims of the BJP ministers.

“Those who want to sell the country think they can divide West Bengal. It is not so easy. “Khela Hobe and we will not give up so easily. Remember, the country cannot be run as per the decision of the BJP leaders nor can West Bengal be divided according to the whims of the BJP ministers.

Neither do we have Ram nor Ayodhya. To learn about Ram one needs to study the Ramayana first,” said Banerjee. The entire country will stand together and oppose this “anti-people” decision, she said.

“The BJP should be ashamed. No one has given them the right to sell our nation’s assets,” she said. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Monday, announced Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways.