TMC's Sougata Roy calls BJP's manifesto for Bengal polls 'hollow'

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sougata Roy on Sunday termed the BJP's manifesto and promises as "hollow" and "jumlas" respectively.

Kolkata: Amid intense poll battle in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sougata Roy on Sunday termed the BJP's manifesto and promises as "hollow" and "jumlas" respectively.

Roy's response comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled the BJP's poll manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly elections in Kolkata on Sunday.

"It is unfortunate that the manifesto for Bengal was released by a Gujarati, not a local in the presence of a leader from Madhya Pradesh. Does the BJP not have a competent person from Bengal who could release the manifesto and speak in Bengali. Amit Shah spoke only in Hindi. People of Bengal are insulted by this," Roy said.

"There is nothing new in the manifesto... BJP manifesto is hollow and they are not coming to power so it does not matter what they say," he added.

He further said that no one should trust BJP promises, adding that in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP promised to give Rs 15 lakhs to every person and 2 crore jobs every year that have not been fulfilled till now. Commenting on BJP's promise of making education free for all females starting from KG to post-graduation level in West Bengal, Roy said: "Is the education for women in BJP-ruled states free? This is nothing but a 'jumla'. BJP will never come to power in Bengal."

"BJP is talking about 33 per cent reservation to women in state government jobs. But why reservation is not being given to women in Parliament. There is only 11 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Why is this number not being increased?" he asked.

The Lok Sabha MP said the Border Security Force (BSF) has the responsibility to stop the infiltration and it is under the Home Minister. "Why are they to stop infiltration then? They speak lies," he said.

On BJP's promise of three AIIMS, he said: "An AIIMS is being built in Kalyani, it was approved during the tenure of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. Still, it is not complete, there is nothing coherent on how the plan of three AIIMS will be taken further."

On implementation of the seventh pay commission for the West Bengal government employees promised by the BJP, Roy said: "They talked about seventh pay commission in Tripura. But it was not increased there."

"Why are they not making Central government corruption-free? Why are they not disclosing the scam in purchasing Rafale? Why did they not nab Nirva Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya who fled to other countries after taking money from banks? BJP manifesto is hollow," he asked when to respond to mention of an anti-corruption helpline under the CMO in BJP's manifesto.

"It is a big jumla to make Sonar Bangla with Rs 11,000 crores fund. Before making Sonar Bangla, they should make sonar Uttar Pradesh, sonar Madhya Pradesh first. They got a lot of time there then why they are unable to do it. Sonar Bangla will not be made by the people from outside of Bengal, it will be made by the people of Bengal," he added.

Elections to the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

(ANI)