Farmers Movement Archive

Centre not cooperating, indulging in propaganda for political gains: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday for misleading farmers with ‘half-truth and distorted facts’ instead of proactively addressing their issues. She also blamed the Centre of non-cooperation and ‘indulging in propaganda for petty political gains’.“Our farmer brothers & sisters have been on streets protesting against new farm laws. Instead of addressing them, PM today chose to mislead the people with half-truth & distorted facts. BJP-led Centre is not cooperating & only indulging in propaganda for petty political gains,” she tweeted, along with a letter in which she rubbished the Centre’s allegation of the non-cooperation by the Bengal government in implementing the PM Kisan Yojana. Banerjee said that the three contentious farm laws would dilute the MSP and state procurement systems, leaving farmers at the mercy of private buyers. She slammed the PM for ‘showing his apparent concern’ via a televised event rather than proactively working to resolve their issues. Mamata said that she had written two letters on the issue of PM Kisan Yojana and spoken to the minister concerned but it was them who were not cooperating. Our farmer brothers & sisters have been on streets protesting against new farm laws. Instead of addressing them, PM today chose to mislead the people with half-truth & distorted facts. BJP-led Centre is not cooperating & only indulging in propaganda for petty political gains. pic.twitter.com/gtngklCruyBanerjee reminded the Centre of its Rs 85,000 crore outstanding dues to the state, which included Rs 8,000 crore of unpaid GST dues, saying that they must release a part of these funds if they really cared about West Bengal. The chief minister said that her government was prepared to do anything for the benefit of the people, even if it meant supporting the politically driven schemes of the Centre which were formulated out of political agenda and were not in the interest of helping people. Banerjee said that her ideologies were consistent with the vision of the founding fathers of the country, that she had served the people of West Bengal with the right intent and that the people would give a befitting reply to those trying to malign them or their state.

Hindustan Times

26-12-2020

Kolkata