Kolkata, Jan 31 (IANS) Countering Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement over the death of 25 people in Anandapur warehouses fire, Trinamool Congress’s all-India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday said that the Centre should take responsibility for the death of 140 people in West Bengal due to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) fear.

Earlier in the day, Shah targeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the deaths in Anandapur and claimed that the state government was trying to shield the culprits.

In response to this, Abhishek Banerjee said, “If the state government is responsible for 25 deaths, then isn’t the central government responsible for the 140 deaths in the SIR process? The BJP engages in vulture politics over dead bodies. This is unfortunate.”

Speaking to media persons outside Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Abhishek claimed that the police arrested the factory owner immediately after the incident. “They (BJP leaders) are frequently visiting Bengal now because elections are approaching. The people will give the answer. Nirav Modi also travelled abroad with the Prime Minister. It is normal for industrialists to travel abroad with the Chief Minister. But engaging in dirty politics over a tragic incident is an old tactic of the BJP.”

The Trinamool Congress leader also said that it is not possible for the government to monitor what is happening inside a private factory’s warehouse. He said as soon as the news was received, the government and the district administration took appropriate action and made arrests. “We want that if anyone else is involved, no matter how big an industrialist they are, our government will not tolerate them. But Nirav Modi, who is accused of bankrupting India and fleeing with a loan of 20,000 crore rupees, travelled abroad with Narendra Modi,” he said.

Abhishek further said that if the BJP wants to hold Mamata Banerjee responsible for the Anandapur incident, then the BJP must also take responsibility for the deaths of over a hundred people due to the SIR exercise.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress’s All India General Secretary launched a scathing attack on the central government and the BJP, questioning why there is no mention of infiltrators’ names in the draft voter list.

Speaking to the media, Abhishek Banerjee said that the BJP had claimed that one to one and a half crore Rohingya and other infiltrators would be removed from the voter list in the state. “However, the draft list published by the Election Commission has refuted that theory. If there were indeed so many infiltrators in the state, why is there no mention of them in the draft voter list? The central government and the Election Commission are deliberately trying to create an atmosphere of fear and tarnish the image of Bengal,” he said.

He also raised allegations of financial discrimination by the central government. Speaking to the media, Abhishek demanded that the central government disclose the exact amount of money it has given to West Bengal over the past 10-12 years. He demanded that the central government present a ‘report card’ to the public detailing how much money it has allocated to rural roads, housing schemes, and other projects in recent years.

–IANS

sch/uk