Kolkata, April 10 – Following the release of the "Sankalp Patra" (election manifesto) for the assembly elections in West Bengal by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee drew a comparison between the manifesto proposals and the promises made by chit funds or Ponzi schemes regarding higher returns on investment.
"The promises made by the BJP are similar to those made by chit funds. These promises are worthless. The promises in the BJP's manifesto to pay Rs 3,000 as monthly allowances to unemployed youths and women are another example of 'jumlas'. The BJP first tried to control West Bengal through various central agencies. When they failed to do so, they are now trying to lure women and youths with false promises of financial assistance. The BJP does not believe in the federal democratic system," Abhishek Banerjee told the media after a couple of hours.
Shah released the manifesto in Kolkata.
Speaking on the occasion, he once again criticized the BJP and the Union government over the special intensive revision in West Bengal.
He said that before releasing the manifesto, the Union Home Minister should have first apologized to the people of West Bengal for the harassment they faced due to the revision.
He added that the BJP would remain the opposition party for the next 20 years solely because of the kind of harassment the people of West Bengal faced due to this exercise.
He also said that the BJP had instances in the past of forgetting promises made before elections.
"They promised to bring back black money. Nothing happened on these lines. The country's economy was affected by the unplanned implementation of the Goods and Services Tax. Now they are trying to snatch the basic rights of the people," Abhishek Banerjee said.
Speaking on the occasion, he also explained why the West Bengal government disapproved of the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the state.
"We opposed Ayushman Bharat because if we had implemented it, almost 90 per cent of the people in the state would not have received the insurance benefits, due to the conditions imposed on the scheme. Therefore, we implemented the Swastha Sathi scheme, which has no conditions. Anyone can avail themselves of the state's own scheme," said Abhishek Banerjee.