New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS) While the country is moving forward on the path of inclusive growth and development, West Bengal is ‘sinking’ into a deep abyss of appeasement politics, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said on Friday, strongly condemning the state’s interim budget presented on February 5.

The Mamata Banerjee government presented an interim budget of Rs 4.06 lakh crore for the state, which is headed to polls in the coming months. While it was hailed by the Chief Minister as “pro-people”, it prompted a sharp critique from the BJP, which pointed to what it called an “exponential” allocation of funds for minorities and madrasas and accused the state dispensation of overlooking key developmental parameters.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Trivedi launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress government over what he described as appeasement politics and “imbalanced priorities”.

The Rajya Sabha MP, pointing to what he termed “glaring gaps” in fund allocation, noted that the state government had allocated Rs 5,713 crore for Minority Affairs and Madrasas, while only Rs 1,400 crore was earmarked for Industry and Commerce.

“Mamata Banerjee has diverted the entire treasury of patronage towards ‘Maulvis, Muezzins and Madrasas’ instead of focusing on ‘Maa, Maati, Maanush’,” Trivedi alleged.

He further said that under Mamata Banerjee’s regime, the state was “falling deeper into the abyss of appeasement politics”, a trend he claimed was reflected in the budget.

Sharing further details of the budget outlays, he said that Rs 217 crore was allocated for Information Technology, only Rs 82 crore for Science and Research, while over Rs 5,700 crore was set aside for minorities and madrasas, questioning the government’s rationale behind such allocations.

He accused the state government of prioritising minority appeasement and vote bank politics over development, calling it an act of indifference towards Bengal’s growth.

Referring to Mamata Banerjee’s reported remark that a “30 per cent community could resort to road rage”, the BJP MP questioned whether the allocations were made out of affection or fear.

Trivedi also questioned the Trinamool Congress and the INDIA bloc at a broader level over what he described as their ideological inclination towards minority vote banks, alleging that benefits were being extended to a particular community at the cost of others.

“Rs 5,700 crore has been allocated to Maulvis and Madrasas. Why was such injustice done to ‘Maa, Maati, Maanush’?” he asked, posing a direct question to the Chief Minister.

–IANS

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