West Bengal panchayat polls 2023: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the promises made by them during last Lok Sabha elections."Where is your Ujjwala, where is Rs 15 lakh? BJP only gives assurance", the Chief Minister who is on a visit to Jalpaiguri said on Tuesday (June 27).
Speaking about tea gardens in Jalpaiguri, she said, "There are 182 tea gardens are having in the region. But few are still closed. We have opened a few and we are trying to open all of them."
Hitting out at the BJP, Mamata said, "Before the Lok Sabha polls BJP assured you that it will reopen all closed tea gardens, but they did not. We will give you patta, land rights in the tea garden areas."
Continuing her attack on the BJP as well as the Communists, she said, "You had experienced 34 years of CPI-M regime and now 10 years of BJP. They did nothing for you. But our government has undertaken a lot of initiatives including in Jalpaiguri district during this period."
"We have increased the salary of tea garden workers to Rs 232. It was only Rs 64 in the CPIM regime. We lost many Assembly seats in North Bengal. But we have done so much work in these districts," she added. The Chief Minister said that the state government is focusing on road connectivity so that people can go reach their destinations in a short time. The government is also trying to provide house-to-house water supply facilities.
Mamata Banerjee requested the Border Security Force to work independently. Condemning the violence in Cooch Behar she said that the state government will take strong action against the perpetrators. On violence ahead of the Panchayat polls, she said, "There is no need to be scared. Police are here to give security. We will conduct the Panchayat polls peacefully and it will be done."
Speaking about campaigning for local body polls the Trinamool Congress supremo said, "We never used to focus on Panchayat polls earlier. But from now we will take it seriously. My officers will follow the regular activities at the gram panchayat level. Trinamool Congress will win everywhere. Congress, CPIM and BJP are jointly fighting against TMC. But nothing will happen. Because we have your support."Attacking the central government for stopping payments, Mamata said, "They blocked our money. The farmers are not getting the minimum support price. Farmers are on the road to get MSP. We are giving our support to them."
Cautioning people, she said, "BJP will come to your area with outsiders. Do not allow them to create violence. BJP's regime will finish in the next six months."
(With ANI inputs)
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