'Govt never deprived WB of MGNREGA, discrepancies present in utilisation'

Union Minister of State for Rural Development addressing press conference alleged that there have been discrepancies in the utilisation of MGNREGA funds in the districts of the eastern state

Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Saturday asserted that the Centre has never deprived West Bengal of its MGNREGA dues and statistics of the last nine years prove that.

The Union Minister of State for Rural Development, who was addressing a press conference here, however, alleged that there have been discrepancies in the utilisation of MGNREGA funds in the districts of the eastern state.

Dismissing the TMC's allegations that she refused to meet the West Bengal ruling party's team in New Delhi for talks regarding MGNREGA dues, she said, "I wanted to meet them and waited for nearly two-and-a-half hours for them. But they kept shifting goalposts on the number of members of their delegation."

"They are now leveling false allegations that I ran away through the back door. The TMC is spreading lies, they did not want to meet me, they just wanted to create drama," she claimed.

She expressed her willingness to engage in talks with the TMC delegation anytime but questioned the West Bengal ruling party's sincerity on the issue.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and party MLAs, MPs and ministers, along with those engaged in MGNREGA work, had recently staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and marched to the Rural Development Ministry at Krishi Bhawan, where they were scheduled to meet Jyoti.

However, after around an hour-and-a-half, the TMC leaders claimed that the minister refused to meet them, restricting the number of members in the delegation to five.

Responding to the Union minister's allegations, the TMC said that if she is interested in talks, she must come to the protest venue outside Raj Bhavan and hold talks with the agitators.

"If she is interested in talks, let her come to the protest venue and talk with us," state minister Shashi Panja said.

TMC activists led by Abhishek Banerjee have been staging a sit-in demonstration outside Raj Bhavan over the issue. They asserted they will not lift their stir until Governor C V Ananda Bose met them at the protest site.

"If making us wait for three hours at Krishi Bhavan and having the Delhi Police assault our delegation wasn't enough, @DrSukantaBJP now wants Shri @abhishekaitc to visit @BJP4Bengal's party office and meet MoS @SadhviNiranjan there. We won't budge an inch from the dharna site. If BJP leaders genuinely care about the welfare of the people, they should prove it by meeting us where the battle for justice rages right here!" the party said in a post on its official X handle.

The TMC, in a series of tweets, lambasted the minister and dismissed her claims.

"@BJP4India leaders ridiculed our battle for people's rights as 'Tamasha', 'Nautanki', 'Drama' and whatnot. What about @SadhviNiranjan's Press Conference today? She unabashedly rambled without addressing people's concerns & hastily ran off to UP. If this isn't a meticulously staged drama, then we do not know what is!" the TMC tweeted.

The TMC also invoked its 'Bohiragoto' (outsider) plank against Jyoti while attacking her. The party had labeled BJP central leaders visiting West Bengal during the 2021 assembly polls as outsiders, while projecting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as 'Banglar meye' or 'Bengal's daughter'.

"MoS @SadhviNiranjan, boldly invoking the spirit of Jhansi Ki Rani, promised to not run away like a coward. Ironically, that is exactly when the Facebook Live abruptly ended, and why? Because she's in a rush to catch her flight to Kanpur! Talk about a Bohiragoto on a typical courtesy visit to Bengal! While she may claim Bundelkhand as her roots, her behavior more closely resembles Jayajirao Scindia, the very man who betrayed Rani Lakshmibai," the TMC tweeted.

On the scheduled meeting between the minister and the TMC delegation, the party claimed that the Jyoti had refused to meet the MGNREGA workers accompanying them.

"She refused to meet our delegation because she preferred meeting only the leaders, not the deprived people of Bengal. If you refuse to engage with people, what sort of a people's representative are you? Have some regard for your public duties!" the party's official X handle said in another post.