Trinamul 'tourist' label on BJP boss

TT, Siliguri: Minister Gautam Deb on Friday described Amit Shah as a "tourist", saying the BJP chief's trip to north Bengal next month would not have any impact on the ruling Trinamul in the forthcoming rural polls.

"He appears to be under tremendous pressure and needs some refreshment. The weather here is beautiful these days and we feel he should come here like a tourist and enjoy his stay. He had paid a similar visit earlier as a tourist and tried some stunts. But those didn't work out," Deb, the tourism minister who hails from north Bengal, said.

The minister was referring to Shah's visit to Naxalbari, around 30km from Siliguri, in April last year. During that trip, the BJP chief had lunch at a tribal's home and visited some other families in the neighbourhood.

Asked about Shah's forthcoming visit - he is scheduled to attend two meetings in north Bengal - Deb said it would not have any impact in the rural polls whose dates are to be announced soon.

"He is free to visit any part of the country. But in north Bengal, such visits will not yield any result for his party," Deb said. The minister was speaking on the sidelines of a government function to inaugurate the north Bengal office of the West Bengal Livestock Development Corporation in Siliguri.

Gautam Deb in Siliguri on Friday. (Passang Yolmo)

If Deb called the BJP chief a tourist, his party colleague and Alipurduar MLA Sourav Chakraborty took on Asok Bhattacharya, the CPM MLA and Siliguri mayor, accusing him of failing to fulfil his responsibilities.

"Unauthorised structures are mushrooming across Siliguri and there is no initiative from the civic body to prevent construction of such buildings. Also, solid waste management is in a shambles. It is due to the failure of the civic board that state departments and agencies have to come up time and again to take up infrastructure development and other works, allot funds and execute the projects which otherwise are the responsibilities of the civic body," said Chakraborty.

The mayor had earlier this week met state minister for municipal affairs in Calcutta and had sought funds from him for the Siliguri Municipal Corporation that is headed by the CPM leader.

But Chakraborty, who is also the district Trinamul president of Jalpaiguri, accused the mayor of trying to cover up for his failures by going around seeking funds.

"That is why he (Bhattacharya) is raising baseless allegations against the state time and again. We will however, keep on working for development of Siliguri. Several crores have been spent by different departments and more money would be spent for improvement of basic services and facilities in the city," Chakraborty said.

Political observers saw the attacks on the BJP chief and the mayor as part of a Trinamul strategy to "undermine" prominent rivals ahead of the panchayat elections.