Centre taking credit for GST rate cuts, move was initiated by state: Mamata Banerjee

“We are losing Rs 20,000 crore as revenue, but we are happy about the lowering of GST. But why are you (Modi) claiming credit for it? We had sought a lowered GST. It was our suggestion at the GST Council meeting,” she said in response to PM Modi’s address to the nation.

CM Banerjee said that she was the first to write to the PM for reducing the GST rates on health and life insurance. “Those who are giving speeches have no credit in this. The credit is the state’s credit since we wrote the letter first,” she said.

Observing that the state has not been given any compensation to mop up resources due to the projected loss of Rs 20,000, she said, “Rules are different for the BJP-ruled states that follow their own ways without interference by the Centre to raise their own revenues. But we cannot.”

“Give us our dues. Don’t withhold our due central funds,” CM Banerjee said.

She alleged that the Modi government has not released over Rs 1.92 crore as central project allocations in several schemes such as MGNREGS.

“You are taking away our money, causing difficulties for us to run state-sponsored welfare projects like Lakshmir Bhandar and Krishak Bandhu. We will continue to run our social welfare schemes nevertheless,” she said.

The Centre has no work other than giving speeches, the TMC supremo alleged.

Referring to the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states, Mamata Banerjee said, “If I speak in Bengali, that is illegal, and if I speak in another language, that is legal. How can you (BJP-ruled government) say so? Why migrants should be thrown out, being labelled as Bangladeshis. None has the right to insult our Bengali-speaking residents.”

From Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Swami Vivekananda, to Rabindranath Tagore and Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay – luminaries born on this soil made the entire country proud. The national anthem was written by Tagore and the national song by Bankimchandra. “How can people speaking in Bengali language be subjected to insult and disrespect?” she said.

Banerjee also said 1.5 crore migrants from other states work in Bengal and “it is our right to protect them. We haven’t learnt to push back.”

There are allegations that several Bengali-speaking people hailing from West Bengal were sent to Bangladesh by the authorities of various states. Cases in this regard are pending in the Calcutta High Court.

“Don’t forget that Bengal played a prominent role in liberating the country. If you (BJP) play with fire, it is fraught with danger; don’t do that. Don’t split the country and rupture its unity in diversity,” she said.

She asserted that 24,000 migrants came back to the state from outside and 10,000 of them were deployed again. “We are giving money to all of them and ensuring they are employed in jute-sector related jobs befitting their skills,” Banerjee added.

The CM claimed that whenever a crime is committed against a woman in West Bengal, NCW members visit the state, but fail to go to BJP-ruled states in a similar situation.

Referring to the problems faced by Indian professionals after the US government raised fees for H1B visas steeply, Banerjee accused the Centre of not doing much for them. “Those who are working there, what will happen to them now?” Banerjee asked.

She also referred to the Russia-Ukraine war and described this as “cause for worry.”

Banerjee said none should sow seeds of religious division, as Durga, Vaishno Devi, and Kali are the same goddess. Turning to the proposal to set up a Durga Angan in the city, she said, “Everything has been finalised. But it will take two years to complete.”

Apparently referring to the bridge collapse in Gujarat, she said, “When we construct something, we make sure it does not collapse.”

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