BJP slams Mamata government over deindustrialisation in West Bengal
KOLKATA: The opposition BJP on Wednesday alleged that the state has been suffering from deindustrialisation since the Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, came to power in the state in 2011. The Bengal BJP unit today released a booklet, 'West Bengal: Industrialisation graveyard', on the industrialisation scenario in the state, hardly 24 hours before the state government organised Business and Industry Conclave in the city on 18 December, showcasing its industrial investment in the state. The BJP held a press conference today where Samik Bhattacharya, Rajya Sabha MP, the partys Bengal president, and Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, were present. Both Samik and Suvendu gave comparative figures focusing on the Trinamool Congress governments promises in the annual mega show Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) since 2015. They alleged that the state government has been misleading people of the state by giving false figures related to industrial investments and the number of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) signed between the state and industry houses. Samik alleged that large industrial houses have left West Bengal, damaging the state's prospects for industrialisation. Both leaders alleged that the governments much-publicised claim about industrial investments of twenty lakh rupees in the state and 800 MoUs signed so far during the past 10 years is nothing but false propaganda. The investments in industries are very poor in the state, they alleged. The Trinamool Congress government has failed in generating employment in the state, they alleged, adding that MoUs are signed in every business summit without any results in investments. The amount of expenditures in organising BGBS showcasing industrialisations in the state is shooting up every year, according to the BJP leaders. Industrial investment in the state is a big zero despite spending a huge amount of Rs 500 crore for BGBSs during the past 10 years. No major investment has been made in heavy and ancillary industries so far, Suvendu said. He also alleged that the state government has decided to organise the business conclave at Dhan Dhannya auditorium in the city instead of the sprawling Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town, spending hundred crores of rupees.