Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that the BJP and the Central government were responsible for the alleged maltreatment of Bengali migrants in other states and a flood-situation in southern districts of the state.
Addressing a gathering during a programme at Kamarpukur Ramakrishna Mission and Math, Banerjee said, “Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi, Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose all spoke Bengali. All their writings or creations are in the Bengali language.”
Referring to flood-like situation in the state, Banerjee said, “Due to the release of water from DVC (Damodar Valley Corporation), Maithon, Panchet and other dams, both North and South Bengal suffer from floods, which cause immense hardship to our people and drain the state’s treasury. This time, DVC released 51,000 lakh cubic metres of water. Why hasn’t dredging been done in the last 20 years? We will not tolerate this injustice.”
“After the 2026 Assembly elections, we plan to stop this forced water release by DVC. We have to create some of our own dams to counter this and manage the floods. If repeated appeals go unheard, we will have to act,” the CM said.
She added, “Bengal’s funds have been blocked by the Centre, and we have had to do everything on our own. From roads to housing — we have done it all ourselves.”
Later, Banerjee also visited a relief camp in Arambagh and distributed food to the flood-affected people.
On a Cooch Behar resident receiving an NRC notice, the Chief Minister said, “How is the Assam government issuing such notices? Bengali workers are being killed in Maharashtra. They are being tortured in other states like Delhi and Haryana. How dare they say there is no language called Bengali? This will never be tolerated. It is our oath to protect our mother tongue.”
‘SIR brainchild of BJP-led Centre’
The CM on Tuesday alleged that the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar was the brainchild of the BJP-led central government with the connivance of the Election Commission.
“This (SIR) has been planned by the Centre, keeping the Election Commission with it. We do not agree with it,” she said, contending that it is not possible for everyone to preserve parents’ birth certificates for the exercise.
The chief minister said she will not accept any attempt to introduce the SIR in West Bengal, where assembly polls are due in 2026. “People practicing all religions will suffer if the special intensive revision is introduced in the state,” Banerjee claimed.
She also alleged that attempts were underway to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the name of SIR. After taking stock of the flood situation in Ghatal, Banerjee said funds will be disbursed to farmers who suffered losses, from the state’s crop insurance scheme.
Banerjee said her government has been providing funds for the 100-day job guarantee scheme, housing for the poor and rural roads.
Meanwhile, during a virtual meeting with district-level party leaders, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday raised the issue of the Delhi Police letter where Bengali was termed as “Bangladeshi”.
He slammed the BJP and party leader Amit Malviya for allegedly insulting Bengali. “This is why we call them Bangla virodhi and zamindars. How dare they call the Bangla language Bangladeshi? Not a single MLA of BJP is protesting this insult on Bengal and Bengalis,” he said.
The MP also stressed on making the ‘Amader Para, Amader Samadhan’ project a success, calling it “historic”.
— PTI inputs