As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) steps up pressure against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her government for the mass violence being perpetrated against BJP workers and supporters in the state for the past one week, the TMC supremo has taken to attacking the Centre on the issue of medical oxygen and Covid-19. The attack comes in the backdrop of Union Minister Amit Shah deputing a four-member team led by an additional secretary-rank officer to tour the violence-hit state and submit a report to the Ministry as soon as possible.
In order to divert attention from the mass violence in West Bengal against BJP workers and supporters, Mamata Banerjee has shot a letter to PM Narendra Modi saying with the surge in Covid cases, Bengal’s oxygen requirement is going up and at such a time, the Centre is diverting its oxygen supply to other states. In her letter to the Prime Minister, Banerjee said that Bengal’s consumption of medical oxygen has gone up from 470 MT to 550 MT per day over the past week.
“However, instead of allotting the same as per the requirement of West Bengal, Govt of India has increased allocation of MO to other states from the total production in West Bengal, during the last 10 days, from 230 MT to 360 MT, keeping the allocation for West Bengal constant at 308 MT per day, despite its requirement of 550 MT per day,” the TMC supremo said in her letter.
As a matter of fact, the four-member MHA team which toured West Bengal and collected information regarding the post-poll violence seems to have significantly irked Mamata Banerjee. It is therefore no surprise that she took to saying, “BJP’s leaders are roaming around and are provoking people. The new government is not even a day old and they are sending teams, letters and their leaders. They are not ready to accept the mandate, I request them to accept the mandate of the people of Bengal.”
This, after the chief minister said that Union ministers and other representatives of the Centre travelling to the state will also have to get a negative RTPCR report and the rule will apply to special flights as well. Then, Banerjee took to saying, “Where is the PM CARES Fund? Why are they risking the lives of young people? Why are they not allotting ₹30,000 crores for vaccination and spending that money to build a new Parliament building and erecting statues, spending ₹20,000 crores behind these projects?”
Read more: Fearing Amit Shah and nationwide outrage, Mamata announces compensation for victims
Mamata Banerjee has earned nationwide outrage for her party’s violent activities after it won a landslide victory on Sunday. The Centre is infuriated, and Banerjee does not know what the Modi government’s next move will be. The Prime Minister is himself maintaining silence on all developments surrounding West Bengal – and Mamata Banerjee realises that the Prime Minister’s silence is to be feared the most. Hence, she is trying to make news by demanding more oxygen for Bengal and by attacking the Centre for its pandemic handling.