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The Trinamool Congress has hit back at the allegations made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a samvad rally. Reacting to Shah’s charges Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Derek O”Brien hit out at the Union minister during a virtual press conference, saying Shah “peddled lies” during his speech at the rally.
He contended that it was due to lack of planning on the part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah that the country was witnessing the migrant labour crisis.
“The labourers are being packed inside trains like they were a herd of cattle. Did the Centre give money to the labourers who lost jobs? The answer is no. The financial stimulus package is a sham,” he said.
Addressing the rally earlier in the day, Shah criticised the TMC-led Bengal government for its alleged apathy towards migrant workers. He said these labourers would ensure Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee”s exit in the 2021 assembly polls as she “insulted” them by terming Shramik Special trains, which were run to ferry them home amid lockdown, ”Corona Express”.
Shah also attacked Banerjee over the alleged culture of political violence in the state, saying the only industry that was flourishing in Bengal was that of “crude bombs and illegal weapons”.
TMC leader and the CM”s nephew Abhishek Banerjee said Shah”s speech was full of rhetoric and sought to know why he remained silent on the India-China border standoff.
“As usual, the speech of Amit Shah Ji was all rhetoric and no substance. Nonetheless, since he has talked about his dream of seeing ”EXIT” of TMC, I would like to ask him one more time – ”When are the Chinese EXITING our territory”,” the TMC leader tweeted with hashtag #BengalrejectsAmitShah.
As usual the speech of @AmitShah Ji was all rhetoric and no substance.
Nonetheless since he has talked about his dream of seeing ‘EXIT’ of TMC, I would like to ask him one more time – “When are the Chinese EXITING our territory”#BengalRejectsAmitShah
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) June 9, 2020
The official Twitter handle of the TMC said, “Amit Shah, someone who”s himself put the inclusivity of India in danger, talks about ”restoring” the culture of Bengal. Doesn”t he remember it was Mamata Banerjee who restored statue of Vidya Sagar, vandalised by his men in front of his own eyes.”
.@AmitShah, someone who’s himself put the inclusivity of India in danger, talks about ‘restoring’ the culture of #Bengal. Doesn’t he remember, it was @MamataOfficial who restored statue of Vidya Sagar, vandalised by his men in front of his own eyes.#BengalRejectsAmitShah pic.twitter.com/MO8LVl5OXv
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) June 9, 2020
Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who was part of the virtual press conference with O”Brien, too, rebuffed Shah”s allegations.
“The BJP government at the Centre is a ”nakli maharaj”, a copycat. In 2016, we had floated the health scheme ”Swastha Sathi”. The Union government copied our scheme and launched with the name Ayushman Bharat. Under the Swastha Sathi scheme, more than 7.5 crore people have been benefited,” he said.
During his speech, Shah had assailed the Bengal government for not joining Ayushman Bharat, the Centre”s flagship health insurance scheme.
