Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien on Saturday took to Twitter to fact-check several claims made by Shah. In seven points, he dismissed some of Shah’s claim.
The Parliamentarian began with countering Amit Shah’s claim that “Mamata Banerjee had left the Congress for another party and is accusing people of defection today”.
O’Brien pointed out, in context of the above, that Mamata had, in fact, not defected to another party.
“She set up a NEW party in 1998, the All India Trinamool Congress,” pointed out O’Brien.
On another claim the state government was giving the benefits of Ayushman Bharat to the people, O’Brien said that the TMC-led dispensation had set up Swasthya Sathi two years before the Centre’s health scheme.
The TMC MP also spoke about Shah’s claim that BJP National President JP Nadda was not provided adequate security on his visit to Bengal. Offering his counter, O’Brien said: “Bengal government had provided Z+ security to Nadda but he violated all regulations by a large convoy of vehicles to follow him.”
O’Brien countered BJP’s accusations that 300 party workers were killed in the state in 1.5 years. “Many BJP workers were killed because of infighting,” he said. “Even death by suicide were being passed off as political killings.” He added that 1,027 TMC workers were killed because of political rivalry since 1997 and that 116 BJP Lok Sabha MPs had criminal records.
The TMC MP also dismissed Shah’s claims that TMC workers had appropriated food grains sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the people of the state. He said that about 10 crore people were being given free rations under a state government scheme.
The list also counters more such allegations made by the Home Minister, involving misappropriation of Ayushmann Bharat benefits and PM Kisan funds.
On Saturday, Amit Shah had unleashed a barrage of attacks on Mamata Banerjee, declaring her “misrule, corruption and nepotism” was the reason for so many people leaving her party. The remarks came as Suvendu Adihkari, who complained of “deep rot” in the Trinamool, joined the BJP.
“Why are so many people leaving Trinamool? Because of the misrule, corruption and nepotism of Mamata Banerjee. Didi, this is just the beginning. By elections time, you will be left all alone,” he said.
Adhikari, the former Minister of Transport, Irrigation and Water resource in Government of West Bengal, has taken with him a total of more than 40 TMC leaders to the BJP.
Nine MLAs – six from TMC, one from CPIM, one from CPI and one from Congress – joined BJP on Saturday. One sitting and a former TMC MP also defected to the Hindutva camp.
The Trinamool has shrugged off the exits and described the outbound leaders as liabilities.
