Trinamul Congress Leader Abhishek Banerjee Challenges BJP's Slogan in North Bengal Campaign

Abhishek Banerjee, the second-in-command of Trinamul, mocked the BJP's slogan for the Lok Sabha election, "Modi Ki Guarantee (Modi's guarantee)" in Jalpaiguri on Thursday, contrasting it with "Didir Guarantee (the guarantee of chief minister and Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee)".

"While Didi's assurance is lifetime guaranteed, Modi's guarantee is non-guaranteed. They received no support from the Prime Minister, other central ministries, or the BJP MPs who had been elected by the people of Bengal. Abhishek stated at the public assembly at the Town Club grounds in Mainaguri, Jalpaiguri, "Instead, they deprived lakhs of people from getting their due wages (under the 100 days' job scheme) and having their own house by halting funds of central welfare schemes."

To get to Mainaguri, Abhishek took a plane from Calcutta to Bagdogra.

Abhishek criticized a national government advertising that said Bengal had received more than five lakh crores earlier in the morning.

"The @BJP4India is wasting tax dollars to propagate misinformation. The Trinamul leader wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "I challenge the BJP leadership to engage in a one-on-one debate with me and release white paper proving the allocation of even 1 paisa to progs like Awas Yojna & MGNREGA since their defeat in the 2021 WB elections."

The BJP state committee responded to the post with promptness.

Select a time and location, and one of our Yuva Morcha karyakartas will be sent to the debate. Read this for how," it wrote, attaching the advertising.

In response, Abhishek said, "Today at 3pm at Maynaguri Town Club Ground." Please provide the MGNREGA and AWAS white paper. See you later."

Abhishek started this verbal battle on X in Mainaguri while speaking to an audience of over 25,000 people who had traveled from the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, and Cooch Behar.

"I would like to know if anyone has visited from the BJP. I'm prepared to argue (about the core funding issue). The national general secretary of Trinamul, a Diamond Harbour MP, declared, "I challenge the Prime Minister to present a white paper to counter my claim if no one has turned up."

Additionally, he provided comprehensive details regarding the unpaid salaries of MGNREGS employees in a few areas in north Bengal.

According to Abhishek, a total of about 11.29 lakh workers in the districts of Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri who participated in projects funded by the central 100 days' job initiative were not paid.

According to him, this comes to a total of Rs 478 crore.

All three of these Lok Sabha seats were won by the BJP in 2019. Actually, Trinamul had performed poorly in each of the eight north Bengal Lok Sabha seats.

"You did not prioritize your own rights when you voted for the BJP. Your votes helped the BJP MPs win, and they later ceased receiving central subsidies. On the other hand, the state's Trinamul government fulfilled all of its commitments, from expanding irrigation infrastructure to revising tea salaries to developing the Dhupguri subdivision, according to Abhishek, the nephew of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Over the past few months, the ruling Bengali regime in north Bengal has steadily increased pressure on the BJP.

Trinamul is actively using the development card, on the one hand. On Wednesday, Mamata inaugurated and launched a number of infrastructure projects valued at approximately Rs 330 crore for the Jalpaiguri district at the Uttarkanya in Siliguri. She also gave land rights and housing units to more than a thousand people.

Conversely, prominent figures such as Abhishek Banerjee have persistently brought attention to matters such as the purported underperformance of BJP Members of Parliament and the unfulfilled assurances of core BJP leaders.

"North Bengalis should vote this time to defend their own rights. Not a single booth in their own seats was touched by the BJP MPs present. On the other hand, Trinamul has fulfilled its commitments by developing the new Dhupguri subdivision. The Trinamul MP continued, "Let me now declare that the Dhupguri rural hospital would be upgraded to a 100-bed sub-divisional hospital in three months.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.