Modi’s indirect nod for Mamata schemes

The promise was willy-nilly an endorsement that social welfare schemes introduced by Trinamul in the past decade had a positive impact on the lives of people

Modi at the rally in Cooch Behar on Tuesday.: Main Uddin Chisti

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Avijit Sinha, Main Uddin Chisti   |  TT | Siliguri, Cooch Behar   |   07.04.21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said benefits to common people would continue ever after the Mamata Banerjee government ceased to exist in Bengal after May 2.

The promise was willy-nilly an endorsement that the social welfare schemes introduced by the Trinamul government in the past 10 years had a positive impact on the lives of people.

“Didi has been saying if she does not come to power, all social benefits that people receive in Bengal will stop. Do you believe this? It is a lie and a futile attempt to hoodwink people,” Modi said while addressing a public meeting at the Rashmela Ground in Cooch Behar town.

“None of these schemes will be discontinued. People will get monthly allowances and other benefits related to health, education and social security…. Only the amount of assistance will increase. But yes, cut money, extortion and corruption will not be there anymore,” the Prime Minister added.

With the BJP desperate to secure power in Bengal, the party has time and again harped on the array of social security schemes which it intends to launch for the residents of the state.

The BJP had also mentioned those schemes in its “Sankalpa Patra” or the manifesto that was released in Calcutta by Union home minister Amit Shah.

Whether it is through their speeches or their manifesto, leaders of the saffron brigade have so far tried to prove that they would give Bengal a better deal that the Mamata regime had denied the citizenry.

Also, time and again, they have accused the Mamata Banerjee government of corruption in the implementation of these schemes.

Political observers pointed out the Prime Minister’s promise that the schemes would continue meant that the social security schemes introduced by the Trinamul government would continue even if the BJP was voted to power.

“This proves the PM and his party cannot undermine those schemes and their effects on a major section of the state’s population. He has virtually admitted that people are getting the benefits of these schemes and hence articulated that the scale of financial benefits would increase if the BJP comes to power,” said an observer.