JOIN USTrinamool, BJP raise counter allegations on Birsa Munda birth anniversary
Veteran revolutionary freedom fighter Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary in West Bengal was observed with the ruling Trinamool and the BJP in Opposition, raising allegations against each other, primarily aimed at tribal voters. The state has rural polls scheduled next year and has substantial tribal concentration in several districts.
Addressing a gathering in Jhargram, Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “Our rights are being taken away, and we will not be okay with that. Birsa Munda wouldn’t have been okay with it either.”
Banerjee alleged that people are facing trouble as far as the 100-day rural job scheme is concerned. “The central government is not paying the state funds that we owe. The Centre is taking away money from the state in the form of GST, but not paying us…,” she reiterated the claim she has made earlier on several occasions, adding that the state has a constitutional right to receive the money back, and it is mandatory for the Centre to pay back.
The chief minister reminded that over 18 lakh adivasis have received caste certificates during the eleven years of her governance. “We have unveiled six statutes today,” she said, adding that to honour the freedom fighter, the Bengal government has set up Adivasi Bhavan at Rajarhat in Kolkata, and the state has recognised Santhali and Kurukh as state languages. The state government gives state holidays on the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda and Raghunath Murmu, she said.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar who travelled to Jhargram addressed a gathering. Majumdar reminded the people about the recent incident of a Trinamool minister having commented on President Draupadi Murmu’s looks. He also countered the CM’s concern about the freeze of central funds.
Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition in state assembly, also attended a public meeting in Bankura district on Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary, and highlighted the deprivation of the people in the region, pledging a nationalistic double-engine government for the state.