Published 14:23 IST, December 14th 2020
Mukul Roy slams CM Mamata Banerjee; calls pushing Tata Motors from Singur biggest mistake
Mukul Roy on Sunday slammed Mamata Banerjee for driving out Tata Motors from Singur. He said that driving out Tata's manufacturing was the biggest blunder
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Hitting out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP national vice president Mukul Roy while addressing a press conference on Sunday claimed that though the Chief Minister has promised jobs to the youth of Singur, which is synonymous with her anti-land acquisition movement, she has not done anything for them. Slamming the CM, Mukul Roy recounted, Tata Motors had built a factory for the world's cheapest car, Nano, at Singur in Hooghly district, but the project was abandoned and shifted to Gujarat following a massive agitation by the farmers, led by Banerjee and her party, the Trinamool Congress, in 2006-2007.
Mukul Roy slams Mamata Banerjee
While admitting that he had also participated in the 2006 Singur movement during his Trinamool Congress days, Roy who was once Mamata Banerjee's right-hand man but later joined BJP in 2017 said that driving the Nano manufacturing plant away from West Bengal was the "biggest blunder" and has acted as a deterrent for other industrialists too.
Back during the agitation in the state, the Tata Motor's plant was moved to the western state on the invitation of the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. It was this anti-land acquisition movement at Singur and Nandigram which catapulted Banerjee and her TMC to power in the state in 2011, ending a 34-year-long Left regime.
Speaking further, the BJP vice president pointed towards the state government's alleged failure in attracting investments into the state despite hosting several global business summits. He said, "The chief Minister held several global investment summits over the last nine years, but no investment has come to the state for setting up industries, while those who have units in the state are being compelled to move base owing to syndicate raj."
During the conference, BJP leader challenged Bengal CM to release a white paper giving details of the amount spent in organising the business conclaves and investments made in the state during these 9 years. Asserting that his top leadership may not agree, he said that Article 356 should be immediately imposed in West Bengal to restore democracy. Roy also expressed confidence that BJP will win the upcoming Bengal assembly elections which are due in April-May 2021
The BJP leader said, "136 BJP workers have been killed so far in the TMC-ruled state. The police is serving the interests of the ruling party instead of acting neutrally and providing protection to law-abiding people."
Unveiling a job opportunities assurance card for the youth of the state, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) state president and Bishnupur MP Soumitra Khan said that instead of providing employment to people, Mamata Banerjee is asking young men and women to see chops and fries for a living. "We will provide job avenues to the youth," he added.
13:00 IST, December 14th 2020