Inadequacy of superfluous cash comes in the way of Trinamool Congress organising a BJP-like mega virtual rally, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banejree said on Monday.
“There is a difference between the BJP and us. We are not the same when it comes to financial capabilities. So it will not be possible for us to spend so much of money for organizing a virtual rally like the BJP,” Banerjee said when asked to comment on why she too was not holding a virtual rally like Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Union Home Minister’s June 9 Bengal rally --- similar to the one held for Bihar --- has an expected target of about two lakh attendees and about 150 senior leaders. Shah's rally will be live-streamed on BJP’s official YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages on the 9th. State party president Dilip Ghosh earlier said that he would send recorded video messages appealing to the people to join the rally virtually to make it a success.
Speaking to the media persons the Chief Minister who on Monday announced the extension of a relaxed lockdown till June 30 said “they are spending crores of rupees for holding such rallies which we cannot afford at this point of time… However we have been holding video-conferences of party workers and leaders involving 20-25 people.”
While Banerjee’s statement on the issue was guarded her party MP from Krishnagar Mahua Moitra spoke a different language.
Tweeting on the Bihar rally she asked whether the topics like Ram Temple, CAA and Triple Talaq which were raised by Shah in the Bihar rally had been able improve the condition of lakhs of migrant workers of that State.
“Bihar Virtual Jansabha by Mr. Shah has him focus on Ram Mandir, Art 370, Triple Talaq & CAA” but “has his survey team asked 10lakh migrants who have returned to Bihar if ANY of these issues helped them during lockdown plight and arduous journey home?” Moitra said.
She also confronted Shah on his claims that the Bihar rally had nothing to do with the coming State elections in that state saying if Bihar rally was not connected to the State elections there then surgical strike too had nothing to do with the general polls.
Meanwhile the Chief Minister while introducing further relaxations on unlocking 1.0 said the temples and wedding ceremonies could now host 25 people.
Earlier only ten people could attend such places. Extending the lockdown for the remaining sectors --- particularly cinema halls, schools and colleges --- Banerjee said decision regarding such places would be taken after June 30.
On the migrant workers coming back to Bengal she said that June 10 when the last Shramik Special trains would roll in the State will have received about 11 lakh migrants reminding however that unlike the migrants from Bengal who had to return to this State following great hardships during the lockdown period the migrant workers of other states who had been living in Bengal did not have to go back because of poor living conditions.
“We treated the migrant workers from other States well and so they did not return to their respective places unlike our own workers who had to come back from other States as they were not treated well. We are proud that we served the migrant workers from other States well,” she said. Meanwhile, in a latest development Bengal witnessed 449 more corona cases in the past 24 hours taking the total number of infected patients to 8187. The number of dead had gone up to 324, sources added.