Kolkata:West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Wednesday addressed the state assembly for the first time, amid protests by BJP MLAs against corruption by the ruling TMC. The BJP legislators shouted slogans against the Mamata Banerjee government and staged a walkout during the governor's address.
Within a few minutes, after Bose began his address to the House ahead of the state budget next week, BJP MLAs led by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari started shouting slogans against the state government. They also protested against the governor for reading out a speech prepared by the state government, which has no relation with reality.
"This is one of the most corrupt governments in the state. We staged a walkout as there is no mention of corruption cases and arrest of TMC leaders in the speech," Adhikari said. TMC chief whip Nirmal Ghosh accused the BJP of trying to disturb the assembly proceedings.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, in his inaugural address to the state assembly, urged the Centre to release funds to the state for the benefit of the poor people. His speech comes after the Mamata Banerjee government and the ruling Trinamool Congress repeatedly accused the Centre of "not releasing funds" to the state.
"There are three areas where the state could have done better - MGNREGA, rural housing, and rural roads. Till 2021-22, West Bengal has been number one in these areas. But this year, the state is yet to receive funds from the Centre," the Governor said in his address to the assembly at the beginning of the budget session.
He also said, "I hope the Centre will release the funds soon in the interest of poor people. And I am sure; West Bengal will continue to hold the No. 1 place in MGNREGA, rural housing, and rural roads as soon as it gets its dues from the central government." While lauding the initiatives by the state government in the last decade to provide the best possible amenities and facilities to the pilgrims, the Governor said, "My government is riding on the wave of its immensely popular pro-people policies".
Claiming that the state government is committed to upholding the noble tenets of cooperative federalism as "enshrined in our constitution", Bose said the TMC government is steadfast in its course to withstand all possible assaults on the secular fabric of the state. "The members (of the assembly) can be rest assured that my government will deal with all inimical forces of divisiveness, hatred and intolerance with a firm hand and defeating all kinds of negativity," he said.
Lauding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bose said it was due to her persistent efforts that Durga Puja of Kolkata has been included in UNESCO's 2021 list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity". Speaking about initiatives of the state government to boost the industrial sector, the Governor said the development of Tajpur Deep Sea port is expected to draw an investment of Rs 15000 crore.
"Shale Gas Exploration License has been given to exploit 6.6 trillion cubic feet shale gas in the Raiganj region of the state," he said. He said the Bengal Silicon Valley is being established at Newtown close to Kolkata and has drawn a tremendous response from data centre players, which signals strong confidence in the newly formulated "West Bengal Data Centre Policy, 2021". Lauding the "Duare Sarkar" initiative launched in December 2020, Bose said around 9.06 crore people had visited 3, 71,865 grassroots-level outreach camps since its launch. (PTI)
