Expressing solidarity with the farmers’ movement Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday came down heavily on the BJP Government for its “mischievous intentions” to rob the farmers, working class and poor to pay the rich.
Demanding immediate withdrawal of the triple laws Banerjee alleged “after the new laws the food grains like rice and wheat, potato, onion, edible oil will go to the corporate godowns which are coming up at various places,” adding the impact of the law might not be immediately felt … but its signs will come to be realised during the summer when there will be shortage of eatables and the potato will sell for Rs 40 and onion will sell for Rs 80.”
She was speaking at a dharna site where the TMC had been protesting against the farm laws for the past three days. The pro-farmer programmes would be continued througout the State till December 21, she said.
Saying that the Centre was showing false sympathy for the Bengal farmers she said how “the FCI purchased 71 lakh tons of rice from Telengana, 111 tons from Andhra Pradesh while they purchased only 71,000 tons from Bengal … which shows that there concern for the people of Bengal is fake much like their claims and propaganda materials.”
Alleging that the Narendra Modi Government was planning to make India a dictatorial state she said “they are telling about one nation one man which is true to a presidential and not parliamentary rule … they are breaking the federal structure of the state which can be seen from their sudden decisions … like the ones during demonetisation, partial selling of the railway stocks, divesting of Air India, plans to sell BSNL and Coal India and merging of the prime Bengal bank with other banks … but we will not let that happen as we will not let Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC take place in Bengal.”
The Government was acting in a dictatorial manner with merely 300 MPs she alleged saying “when Rajiv Gandhi came to power with 400 MPs he could also have done similar things, but he did not do so because he believed in democracy… this party (read BJP) is planning to do to India what Hitler, Mussolini did to their countries.”
Elsewhere the ruling TMC on Thursday rolled out a performance chart of the Government indicating that the party was going to polls on development issues. Booklets were released by the ministers in a programme where the government’s department wise achievements and schemes have been shown. The booklets would be distributed in all the Assembly constituencies, Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said.
