Bengal BJP meets governor, complains about selective approach of govt in bringing back migrants

The West Bengal BJP on Friday met

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and accused the Mamata Banerjee government of being interested only in bringing back stranded people from a particular community and not paying heed to native migrant workers besides pilgrims held up in different parts of the country during coronavirus-related lockdown.

Senior leaders of the saffron party led by state president and MP Dilip Ghosh met the governor here and complained about the manner in which the state government is handling the COVID crisis.

The TMC hit back at the BJP, saying they should desist from doing "communal politics" at this hour of crisis.

 

Accusing the TMC dispensation of being "insensitive" towards the needs of the people, Ghosh claimed he has been told that the West Bengal government has requested only for two trains to bring people of a particular community from Ajmer and Ernakulum in Kerala.

Most of these people who have come back from the two places had gone on religious tourism, he said.

The state government has not so far asked for any additional special train from the Railways for bringing back stranded labourers, pilgrims, tourists and students from other states, he added.

"The state government is only bothered about suffering of the people from a particular community. This is unacceptable. The state should act impartially," Ghosh told reporters.

One train from Ajmer in Rajasthan and another from Ernakulam in Kerala have brought around 2,500 stranded people of the state on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively this week.

"So many people are stranded in other parts of the country. What has the state government done to bring them back? They have opened a few helpline numbers which don't work. So how will our people return?" Ghosh questioned

Refuting the allegations, senior TMC leader and minister Firhad Hakim said BJP should stop doing "communal politics" at the time of crisis.

"The BJP from the very beginning of the pandemic has been trying to communalise the crisis. This is condemnable. The state government has ramped up all efforts to bring back stranded citizens," Hakim said.