TMC blames Centre,Left for debt crisis

Having failed to convince the Centre to give the West Bengal government moratorium for three years on repayment of principal and interest on Rs 2.09 lakh crore debt accrued during the Left regime,an angry Trinamool Congress — the largest partner of the UPA — has mounted pressure on the Centre holding it equally responsible for accumulation of this huge financial burden on the state government.

The TMC has alleged that “no surveillance” was maintained by the Centre on the fund it had given to Bengal and as a result,“one after another financial scam” took place during the Left regime. Claiming that the demand for moratorium and restructuring of interest repayment raised by its chief Mamata Banerjee is “legitimate”,the party has said that the Centre did not comply with the “instruction issued by the Reserve Bank and Planning Commission” to “build up a financial discipline across the country”.

Trinamool leader Purnendu Bose said the CM is upset because her demand for moratorium,which is legitimate,has not been accepted by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister,despite the fact that the state government has all valid arguments in favour of the claim.

“During the 2011-12 financial year,the Left Front government had taken loan amounting to Rs 5,173 crore within a period of 36 days. At that time,too,the Centre remained silent. The Union Finance Ministry had given nod to Bengal to take loan during the Left regime. Because of this,the state fell in the debt trap,” Bose said.

The TMC claimed Mamata had not done anything wrong by demanding moratorium and restructuring interest payment because the Centre had given similar opportunity to Punjab.