Modi govt has shown 'extreme vindictiveness' to WB for rejecting BJP: Cong

The Congress on Thursday accused the Modi government of showing "extreme vindictiveness" to the people of West Bengal for rejecting the BJP in 2021 and asked why is it so reluctant to give anything to the state, when it is always so ready to ask when election times come.

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Cooch Behar in West Bengal, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there is perhaps no state whose people have suffered more at the hands of the Modi government.

"The PM should use this opportunity to answer for all his government's failings in West Bengal: It seems like the PM only goes to West Bengal when he needs to ask for votes. Before this election campaign, the last time he visited the state was for the 2021 assembly elections (when he visited a record 22 times)," Ramesh said in a post on X.

Since then, he has been all over the country but has not felt the need to visit West Bengal even once, the Congress leader said.

Why is the BJP government so reluctant to give anything to Bengal, when they are always so ready to ask when election times come, he asked.

"The Modi Sarkar has shown extreme vindictiveness to the people of West Bengal for rejecting the BJP in 2021. Funds for MGNREGS came to a complete halt within months of the BJP's loss in the assembly election, and according to the state government, the Central Government's dues to West Bengal now amount to a whopping Rs 1.15 trillion," Ramesh alleged.

In their pettiness, the BJP government has withheld funds for a number of other critical rural welfare schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the National Health Mission (NHM) and the Jal Jeevan Mission, he alleged.

"Two months ago, the state Governor said the PM is 'very keen' to solve this issue. But his general indifference to this issue over the last few years begs the question - how long do the state's most vulnerable have to suffer while the PM nurses his fragile ego?" Ramesh said.

"PM Modi would like us to believe that his party embodies the epitome of integrity. Unfortunately for him, the 'chronology' of events in West Bengal tells an entirely different story," he said.

Ramesh said that in April 2017, the CBI filed an FIR against then TMC MP Suvendhu Adhikari in connection with the Narada scam. In April 2019, the CBI sought sanction from the Lok Sabha speaker to prosecute him.

In December 2020, Adhikari joined the BJP, even as the CBI was left waiting for the Lok Sabha speaker's sanction, he said.

"Similarly, TMC leader Tapas Roy was raided by the ED in January this year in connection with a money laundering case. Just three months later, in March, Roy joined the BJP and is now contesting from Kolkata Uttar Lok Sabha seat. The ED probe is supposedly still on. The PM's 'Bhrashtachar Hatao' slogan is shamelessly plastered all over the country," Ramesh alleged.

"Can the PM shed light on why CBI and ED action against these leaders has been stalled? How does the BJP make pretensions to being the party with a difference when their 'washing machine' is clearly at full spin in West Bengal?" he said.

Ramesh also raised the issue of widespread protests in Darjeeling last year when the Gorkhas renewed their long-standing demands for a solution to the Gorkhaland issue.

"In its election manifestos of 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019, the BJP has promised a 'permanent political solution to the issue of Darjeeling Hills, Siliguri Terai, and Dooars region'. Despite winning the Darjeeling Parliamentary seat in every election since 2004, the BJP has shown no attempt to take any concrete action," he said.

"Promises are made before every election, only to be conveniently swept under the carpet when the BJP retains power. Only the Congress has taken concrete action to address the people's concerns - setting up the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in 2012, and its predecessor, the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, in 1988," he asserted.

Do the prime minister and the BJP have the integrity to finally follow through on their empty promises, he asked.

"How does the PM plan to address the long-standing issues of the Gorkha people?" Ramesh said.