Threatening to sit on a fast if funds were not released for Siliguri Municipal Corporation, former CPI(M) minister and Mayor Ashok Bhattacharya today accused the TMC government of having a "vindictive attitude" towards Opposition-controlled municipalities.
He said the TMC government has "imposed an economic blockade" on the Left-controlled municipalities.
"The agenda of TMC is very clear, they want to take over all the Opposition-controlled municipalities either by force or by the use of money power. So the first step is to put an economic blockade. Either you switch over your allegiance to TMC or you won't be getting any funds from the state government," he said.
The Siliguri mayor said there are examples that once a municipality and its public representatives have switched allegiance to TMC, funds were released within next 48 hours.
"But the TMC should understand one thing that each and every public representative is not for sale. We are not for sale. The people have voted us and we can't betray them. If the state municipal affairs ministry doesn't release funds then we will start agitation. And we will also come to Kolkata and sit on fast against the vindictive attitude of the state government," he said.
(REO CES17)
Ironically, Congress MLA and chairman of Kandi
Municipality Apurba Sarkar came to the rescue of the state government and said that Bhattacharya too used to follow the same tactics of depriving opposition controlled municipalities during Left rule, especially when he was the state urban development and municipal affairs minister.
"In TMC regime we have been more or less regularly receiving funds. And Ashok Bhattacharya should not talk much, he too had deprived the opposition controlled municipalities when he was municipal affairs minister during the Left regime," Sarkar said.
Bhattacharya, however, failed to furnish proper answers to the allegations.
"These are baseless allegations. I am an elected MLA and a Mayor but the principal secretary to the state municipal affairs department is unwilling to talk to me, neither he receives my call".
Bhattacharya said he spoke to state finance minister Amit Mitra today and he had assured that he would look into the matter.
"Today when I called up Amit Mitra he said that state is going through grave financial crisis because of the debt during the Left regime. I told him that if that's the reason then no municipalities should get funds, why only Left controlled municipalities are being deprived. He said he will look into the matter," Bhattacharya said.
Led by Bhattacharya, the Siliguri Municipal Corporation has been a role model for anti-TMC parties in the state.
