Projects not taken up by state: Naqvi

MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI IN SILIGURI.
(KUNDAN YOLMO)

TT, Siliguri, Sept. 1: The Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, today ruled out any tacit understanding between the BJP and Trinamul and said the Bengal government had failed to implement the Centre's welfare schemes.

Asked why Siliguri had been kept out of the Smart City project, Naqvi said the list of places that the Bengal government had sent to the Centre did not include Siliguri.

While talking about the recent speculation that the BJP and Trinamul were coming together on some issues, Naqvi said: "In a federal structure, any chief minister can meet the Prime Minister for pursuing development projects. Our party always supports that and wants the states and the Centre to work together. The official meetings for this purpose should not be interpreted from a political angle. The Prime Minister's door is open for anyone and anybody can approach him on development. This does not mean that two parties (one the Prime Minister belongs to and one the chief minister represents) are having any tacit understanding."

Naqvi, who held a news conference here before leaving for Delhi after campaigning in Bihar for the Assembly polls, said: "There are several projects floated by the Centre for socio-economic development of people and overall infrastructure development of the state. However, the state government which is run by Trinamul is not implementing many of these projects. As of now, the state government seems to be dominated by corruption and lawlessness."

About the Smart City project, he said: "The Bengal government had sent names of four places and all those have been included. The name of Siliguri was not there. If the state had recommended Siliguri, the Centre would have obviously considered it."

Told about Naqvi's comments, minister Gautam Deb said: "The Centre is not paying adequate funds to implement the schemes. Some schemes floated by the state, like Kanyashree, have earned appreciation at international level. As far as inclusion of Siliguri in the Smart City project is concerned, it was failure on the part of the local civic body."

Mayor Asok Bhattacharya brushed aside Deb's charges and said: "No initiative was taken by the local minister so that Siliguri figured in the list."