People's Democracy

Mamata’s Bluff Exposed

From Our Special Correspondent in Kolkata

Mamata Banerjee’s remark, ‘I don’t tell lies’ is the greatest joke of the year. Gautam Deb, CPI(M) leader referred to Banerjee’s claim in an interview to a private TV channel as spurious. Deb, in a press conference, proved this with a plethora of examples on April 5. He asserted that the heap of falsities propagated by Banerjee and her party TMC is unparalleled.

Gautam Deb reiterated his readiness to sit with Mamata Banerjee in a question-answer session. But it depends on her consent. Hence, Deb took recourse to media for direct audio-visual reference to Mamata Banerjee’s blatant lies in an interview in the said channel.

Mamata Banerjee: Rice at Rs 2 per Kg to poor people is a central government scheme, not of the LF.

Gautam Deb: The central government supplies rice for the poor at Rs 5.65 per Kg. The West Bengal government gives a subsidy of Rs.3 65 for supplying rice to the poor at the reduced rate of Rs 2 per Kg. On this account, the state government bears an annual subsidy load of Rs 450 crore. At present,  2.64 crore poor people in the BPL list are getting this benefit in West Bengal. The eighth Left Front government will extend this facility to families having an annual income of Rs 10,000. An additional 1.5 - 2 crore people will come under this scheme.

Mamata Banerjee: 80 per cent of the state policemen are CPI(M) cadres.

Gautam Deb: The LF is in the government in the state for 35 years. A day will come when there will be no policeman who is without employment during the LF regime. Perhaps she had this point in mind when she made the remark. But the fun lies in the fact that after retirement, policemen are going to her residence at Kalighat. Just see the fun.

Mamata Banerjee: Court cases have been lodged against more than One lakh TMC workers.

Gautam Deb: All bogus and bunkum! The state government has submitted to the Election Commission the number of men rounded up for non-bailable offences. The number is 82, 277. It includes murderers, thieves, dacoits as well as persons belonging to Congress, TMC, CPI(M) etc. etc. Let Mamata Banerjee or Partha Chatterjee submit their list of One lakh TMC workers under custody. We shall tally the list.

Mamata Banerjee: 50 per cent of the villages in West Bengal are deprived of electricity.

Gautam Deb: Blatant lie! West Bengal has 37,910 mouzas. Electricity has already reached 37,765 mouzas. Last time we declared in our manifesto that we will provide electricity to all mouzas. Consciously, we have not raised the issue in this year’s manifesto, because our target is nearly fulfilled. In the small amount of the remaining mouzas, electricity would be provided within a short time. This year we have declared that we shall provide electricity to all such houses that are still without it. The eighth LF will do the work in a phased manner.

Mamata Banerjee: During this period [7^th LF regime] we have not organised even a day’s bandh or set up any barricade.

Gautam Deb: TMC has not called bundh or set up barricade! Her own kinsmen will cackle at such a preposterous claim. If we go back to 2006, the account stands:

November 30: Kolkata barricaded, public and private vehicles damaged

December 1, 2006: state-wide bandh

December 2, 2006: Railways obstructed

December 5, 2006: TMC support to SUCI-Naxal convened bandh

December 6, 2006: Streets blocked and railways barricaded for two hours all over the state

December 21- 22, 2006: 48 hour bandh called (though called off at night on Dec 21.)

March 16, 2007: Bangla bandh by TMC

November 12, 2007: Bandh called jointly by Congress-TMC-BJP. Barbaric attacks let loose on pedestrians, common people throughout the state

The list can be enlarged. TMC anarchy is still fresh in people’s memory.

Mamata Banerjee: We shall form legislative council (Bidhan Parishad).

Gautam Deb: Barring six states, there is no Bidhan Parishad. No MLA of the TMC has mentioned such a thing in the last five years in the assembly. The fact is, this plea is bait for those who have been denied tickets in the coming assembly election.

Mamata Banerjee: The state government is bankrupt. Its debt has crossed Rs 2 lakh crore.

Gautam Deb: The central government, of which Mamata Banerjee is a minister, has right now a debt amounting to Rs 39 lakh crore. The Uttar Pradesh government has a debt of Rs 2.21 lakh crore, Maharastra Rs 2.07 lakh crore, Andhra Pradesh Rs 1.27 lakh crore, and West Bengal Rs 1.86 lakh crore. West Bengal is now financially strong among the big states. West Bengal’s debt stands accumulated from 1947. An important datum is that the central finance ministry has taken loans from the banks for the last 30 months to the tune of Rs 9 lakh crore to combat financial crisis.

Mamata Banerjee: I have allocated Rs One lakh crore in the railways only for West Bengal.

Gautam Deb: The railway minister’s budget for the whole country during 2010-11 is Rs 41,626 crore and during 2011-12 it is Rs 57,630 crore. Taken together, these two years’ total railway budget is a little below Rs One lakh crore and that too for the whole country. Now she says that for West Bengal alone her allocation is Rs One lakh crore! People with some amount of learning won’t believe such concocted things.

Mamata Banerjee: For unorganised labour sector there are central schemes.

Gautam Deb: Once again inflated lies! The central schemes concern only the BPL, unorganised labour sectors do not come under those. We have covered more than 25 lakh unorganised labour under provident fund schemes. All labour of 61 specific sectors are benefited. Besides provident fund schemes, we have health protection schemes, provident fund for agriculture labour, pension fund for construction workers, education allowance for the children of transport labour, provident fund for bidi workers. The eighth Left Front will further extend all such schemes for the unorganised labour sector.

Mamata Banerjee: I have not raised railway fare, I won’t impose tax.

Gautam Deb: In the last two years, she has prepared railway budgets with loans from the central government to the tune of Rs 15,875 crore and Rs 20,000 crore. She has not imposed tax, but enhanced freight charge. Moreover, she has raised from the market for the last two years bonds of Rs 9120 crore and Rs 20,594 crore. Won’t such huge loans lead the railways in the wilderness? Who’ll bear her legacy of such a huge loans?

Mamata Banerjee: In the last one year, I have constructed 710 kms of new rail tracks.

Gautam Deb: Notice has been served in the parliament for telling lies and misleading the parliament. She says 710 kms of new rail tracks, but the central finance ministry shows that only 59 kms have been constructed in six months. Her account of doubling of lines shows 700 km. But finance ministry’s account shows it as 55 km in six months. Mamata Banerjee’s figure of railway electrification stands at 1000 km. Finance ministry shows only 243 kms done in six months. She says, gauge conversion is 800 km, finance ministry shows it to be 140 km in six months. Doubling of doubling the figures of the finance ministry also cannot reach the statistics given out by her.

Mamata Banerjee: I have employed 1.80 lakh workers in the railways.

Gautam Deb: There should be some limit to talking rot. In government service there are some norms of employment. Can she show in her railway budgets that she has allocated fund for the salary of these 1.80 lakh newly employed? Can she show in which railway board meeting, the decision on these employments was taken? Where is the cabinet decision? Can she show a single paper on the issue?

Mamata Banerjee: The Maoists are CPI(M)’s induction.

Gautam Deb: Strange! If they are CPI(M)’s induction, why are they wanting to see her the chief minister of West Bengal? Why are they killing the CPI(M) leaders and workers?

Mamata Banerjee: CPI(M) is now in coma.

Gautam Deb: Then lakhs of people under coma had come to the Brigade? Students under coma are ensuring victories of the SFI in colleges? The primary school teachers have ensured the victory of the Left candidates because they are in coma? From a doctor, I learn that a coma patient can revive, but if one is brain dead, she cannot revive. If she thinks that CPI(M) is in coma, then she has undergone ‘brain death’.

Mamata Banerjee: Minority Reservation is done from the Hindu share.

Gautam Deb: Very dangerous statement! Greater communal instigation than the BJP is capable of. This is an incitement for communal riot. All over India, only Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has taken this historical decision of reservation for the poor Muslims. This is not from the share of the Hindus. After providing reservation for all classes of backward Hindu communities, this has been done in accordance with the Supreme Court verdict.