Mamata Banerjee lashes out at Central government, mounts criticism on Citizenship Bill, Demonetisation and GST

Addressing a gathering at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that citizenship can happen only once and the move to “prove” citizenship twice was nothing but a ploy to turn people into foreigners.

Banerjee added that there is a conspiracy being hatched to chase away people who have lived in this country for generations. In her words, the people of Bengal have lived and will continue to live in harmony – they do not pay heed to sentimentalised provocations.

Criticising the Central government, Mamata stated that the Citizenship Bill was nothing but a political gimmick before the elections. It led to unrest and turmoil in Assam and Mizoram. The chief minister has remained critical of the Citizenship Bill from the very beginning.

Attending a function to felicitate sportspersons, Mamata Banerjee attacked the Narendra Modi government for its policies of demonetisation and implementation of the GST.

She said that it has become difficult for sporting clubs to land sponsorships. Adding that it was not the job of sporting clubs to figure out if their sponsorship money was ‘black’ or ‘white’, she pointed out that certain sporting clubs were reluctant to accept sponsorships as it may later lead to harassment by investigative agencies.

Citizens live in constant fear, the chief minister said. Should any organisation or business house be deemed untrustworthy, people have to be alerted to it, stated Banerjee. It is not just enough to come up with campaign slogans like ‘Khelo India’ or congratulate winners. The government needs to stand by its sportspersons, maintained the Trinamool Congress chief.

The Chief Minister noted that after her government has come to power, the budget allocation for sporting activities had risen from Rs 70 crore to Rs 551 crore. She also announced the aid of Rs 1 lakh each for 221 sports coaching centres across the state.