Staring at an imminent defeat, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress are resorting to desperate measures to cling on to power. In their latest move, the TMC has gone socialist as it has made some economically unviable promises in its manifesto like the student credit card scheme.
Earlier this week, Mamata Banerjee released TMC’s manifesto which if implemented, would make West Bengal a full blown socialist state. The manifesto promised a new student credit card scheme with a limit of Rs. 10 lakhs at only 4% interest.
The manifesto also announced free doorstep delivery of monthly ration to 1.5 crore households under the ‘Khadya Sathi’ scheme. Mamata also promised universal basic income to support the female heads of 1.6 households in West Bengal. The UBI will be divided as follows: monthly amount of Rs. 500 ( Rs. 6,000 per year) will for General Category families, while the SC/ST communities will receive Rs. 1,000 per month ( Rs. 12,000 per year) from the state government.
On paper, the schemes sound enticing for a Bengal voter, however, they are economically unviable and will be a huge burden on the taxpayer and the state which already lags in development. Mamata has failed to provide any clarity on where the money will come from. Unfortunately, that doesn’t matter to TMC right now. They are desperate and need to win no matter how.
Such is the desperation of Mamata, that during a recent rally in Jhargham, the West Bengal CM blurred the lines between attacking the BJP and influencing the people of the state against Bhagwan Ram. The embattled Chief Minister said, “Don’t vote for BJP otherwise, you won’t be able to follow your ‘dharma’. You will have to say ‘Jai Shree Ram’, you will not be able to say ‘Jai Siya Ram’. Lord Ram used to worship Maa Durga because she is much bigger in stature.”
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However, this is not the first time that CM Mamata has politicised the chant of Bhagwan Ram. During the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, three individuals were detained in West Bengal for chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ as Mamata Banerjee was passing with her convoy. The video of the incident had surfaced which showed the Bengal CM stopping her convoy and confronting a few individuals who were chanting the name of Bhagwan Ram as she was moving from one political event in Kharagpur to another.