"Both Saugata(da) and Deepa(di) were ministers there. I have spoken to Saugata(da) and will speak to Deepa(di) to learn from their experiences. It's a big department and there are so many scopes which have excited me.
"So many ministers have worked there, but little work has been done. I will try to find out the reasons for that...I will try to look into the areas of darkness in the department," the singer-turned-politician said in his first visit to the city after becoming a minister.
Reacting to senior Trinamool Congress leader and Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee's statement that Supriyo is a "half-minister" as he has been sworn in as an MoS, the MP from Asansol said, "I know Subrata(da) personally for a long time. I know it is not his personal opinion...I would rather say that it's a half-hearted comment."
Mukherjee had slammed the BJP for making Supriyo a minister of state, saying that an MoS cannot do anything for the state.
"Today is an auspicious day and I will not like to comment anything on this...I will rather have a discussion with my party before saying anything on it," he said.
Talking about the JNNURM housing projects in the state for which the Centre has stopped disbursement of funds Supriyo said though money was released by the Centre, it was not utilised properly.