Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday renewed her pledge against division of the state. Countering the BJP's oft-repeated call for carving out North Bengal, she asserted that she would not allow partition of the state in her lifetime.
The Trinamul Congress supremo said at an event in Jalpaiguri, “As long as I live, I will not allow any division between the plains and the hills...All are our brothers and sisters. You are our family. We can't leave you in pain.”
Training guns on BJP, she alleged that even if it wins the Lok Sabha Election in 2024, it would forget Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of extending free ration for five years.
She claimed, “Elections are a few months away. The PM has promised the country free ration. But when BJP loses the polls, it disappears to keep its word. Even if it wins, it will forget its promise again."
The CM added, “Ahead of the last polls, the BJP promised to reopen five closed tea gardens in the hills. What happened to that? You do not keep your promises but we do keep ours.”
She then announced that her government would take over six non-operational tea gardens at the foot of the hills and provide its workers a monthly assistance of ₹ 1,500 each. Ms Banerjee further informed that ₹24,000 crores would be invested to set up industries in the region.
