West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Sunday that the central government was taking undue credit for recent reductions in GST rates, a move she insisted was initiated by her state.
Her statement followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation, where he announced that a “GST savings festival” would commence on Monday, the first day of ‘Navratri’. The prime minister had described the tax cuts as a “double bonanza” when combined with the income tax exemption.
Without naming the prime minister, Banerjee said: “We are losing ₹20,000 crore as revenue, but we are happy about the lowering of GST. But why are you (Modi) claiming credit for it? We had sought a lowered GST. It was our suggestion at the GST Council meeting.”
The chief minister also alleged that the Modi government has not released over ₹1.92 crore as central project allocations in several schemes such as MGNREGS.
“You are taking away our money, causing difficulties for us to run state-sponsored welfare projects like Lakshmir Bhandar and Krishak Bandhu. We will continue to run our social welfare schemes nevertheless,” she said.
The TMC supremo also raised the issue of harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states, saying: “If I speak in Bengali, that is illegal, and if I speak in another language, that is legal. How can you (BJP-ruled government) say so? Why migrants should be thrown out, being labelled as Bangladeshis. None has the right to insult our Bengali-speaking residents.”
There are allegations that several Bengali-speaking people hailing from West Bengal were sent to Bangladesh by the authorities of various states.
Cases in this regard are pending in the Calcutta High Court.
“Don’t forget that Bengal played a prominent role in liberating the country. If you (BJP) play with fire, it is fraught with danger; don’t do that. Don’t split the country and rupture its unity in diversity,” she added.
Banerjee further said that 24,000 migrants came back to the state from outside and 10,000 of them were deployed again.
“We are giving money to all of them and ensuring they are employed in jobs befitting their skills,” she said.
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