Kolkata: The state BJP has lashed out against chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her cancellation of her China visit.
On Saturday while state BJP president Dilip Ghosh described her decision a ‘drama’ another BJP leader Mukul Roy demanded her to publish a white paper stating the total amount of investments she has brought from her foreign trips.
Referring to the Trinamul Congress supremo’s meeting in New Delhi recently, with a group of top south Indian politicians including Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Mr Ghosh also bantered her bonhomie with the senior CPI(M) leader.
He said, “Ask her friend Pinarayi Vijayan why she was not allowed to visit China. He is now a close friend who is from China. So they will be able explain it better.”
The BJP MLA of Kharagpur added, “We wanted her to visit so that any development would happen in Bengal. Actually it was a drama entirely. There is no essence in it. We never asked her to go on a tour merely. She has wasted a lot of money on tours. Industry could have been set up here with that money. Ms Banerjee has realised that the people have caught her gimmick of touring foreign countries and clicking photos there.”
He claimed, “So there will be not benefit from it. The results during the elections will be opposite. Many comments are doing the rounds in the social media. So she did not allow the people to poke at her this time. That is why she cancelled it.”
Attacking Ms Banerjee, Mr Roy said, “When erstwhile chief minister Jyoti Basu used to go abroad, we complained that he was going on tours. The present chief minister has the same habit.”
Mr Roy argued, “She visits abroad often. If she releases a whitepaper stating how much investments she has pumped in from abroad or how much investments she has attracted by organising business summits, the people of Bengal will be benefitted. Therefore, these visits do not have any value. If she were to go, she would have taken the same businessmen who once accompanied former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.”
