Bengal lags, centre eager to develop it: Gadkari

Regretting that West Bengal continues to lag due to the lack of politics of development, union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari Tuesday said the centre government is eager to help the state government to usher in progress.

Addressing a rally here, Gadkari attacked the Trinamool Congress government for following the footsteps of the Congress and the Left Front in "attacking" BJP workers and alleged "some parties" continued to indulge in politics of caste and religion.

He also urged the people of Bengal that the time has come for them to decide whether they wanted politics of development like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

"In Bengal there is no development, there is no industry, youth are looking for jobs but there is no job. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the country is seeing development and we want Bengal to join this path of development," he said.

Even as the Trinamool and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued to battle over a host of issues, including conversions and the Saradha scam, the minister promised to develop the state's transport infrastructure.

"We don't want to mix politics with development. We want Bengal to grow and develop. We will be building roadways and waterways here," said Gadkari, who later left for a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat.

Observing that waterways was far cheaper than travelling by road or railways, Gadkari assured to start water bus and hovercraft services connecting Bengal with the northeast region as well as setting up river and sea ports in the eastern states.

"Due to politics of development Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have changed but Bengal still continues to lag. Some parties continue to indulge in politics of caste and religion but now the time has come for the people of Bengal to decide whether they want politics of development," he said.

"Earlier the Congress and Left Front used to attack BJP workers and now the Trinamool is doing the same. But, I am sure much like rest of the India, lotus will bloom in Bengal soon. Delhi is now not far from the people of Bengal. Good days have come in India and good days will come in Bengal too," said Gadkari.