Taking a swipe at BJP chief Amit Shah for not explaining why West Bengal is "constantly being deprived of central aid", state Minister Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday rubbished his claims that his party would become a formidable force in the state by the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
"He hasn't said a single word about why Bengal is being deprived of central grants and aids which other states are getting. Why are they taking away 40,000 crore rupees every year from Bengal? We are not responsible for this debt. Our predecessor, the Left Front regime is responsible," said Chatterjee.
Countering Shah's claim of the BJP becoming a potent force in Bengal over the next two years, Chatterjee said it should be more concerned about its position at the centre.
"They should be more concerned about their position in Delhi, not Bengal. They should worry about whether they would be able to stay in power at the centre in 2019. The people of India have decided that no matter what happens, BJP will have no place in the nation after 2019," he retorted.
The Trinamool Congress Secretary General also indicated that the BJP was gathering people in meetings and rallies by using its "economic prowess", and ridiculed Shah's assertion that his party's symbol lotus would bloom in Bengal.
"The support he (Shah) is witnessing, is actually from a group of people gathered using their economic prowess. There is no enthusiasm for the BJP in Bengal. Let alone the 'flowering of lotus', they won't be able to bloom a bud here," Chatterjee added.
Shah kickstarted his 15-day 'Vistar Yatra' (party expansion tour) by visiting the Naxalabari block - the cradle of the 50-year old Maoist movement in India - in northern West Bengal's Darjeeling district during the day.
The BJP President is slated to go to Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee's assembly constituency Bhowanipore in South Kolkata on Wednesday. He would leave the state for Odisha on Thursday on the next part of his tour.
--IANS
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