Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the opposition and a section of the media on Tuesday for negating industrial growth during the 21 months of Trinamool Congress rule in the state.
"Who said we are not for big industry? It is only a section of the media who are running a false propaganda to pursue their selfish interests", she said at the second edition of industry meet 'Bengal Leads' at Haldia.
Lambasting the opposition, she said it is only busy with strikes and roadblocks. "Show me one state in the country which has an opposition like this. Some TV channels don't do constructive work but only talk negative," she said.
Mamata said one section of the media is comparing Bengal with Gujarat. "I am happy for that as Gujarat is a lovable state but the two states are not comparable."
While Gujarat has 17 ports, Bengal has only two which had not been properly dredged by the Centre. Besides, the population density in Bengal was higher than Gujarat, which also has 1.5 per cent more land.
"On the top of that, there is no road blockade and political obstruction by the opposition in Gujarat unlike in Bengal", she said adding there is no politics in that state except during the time of elections.
"Bengal is finished by a single party (CPM) rule for 34 years. The state is having a legacy of a huge debt burden for which the government is not being able to dole out any concessions to the industry."
The state, she said, is in a 'serious financial mess'.
"I have met the Prime Minister 10 times after coming to power seeking for a moratorium on debt repayment. But nothing has happened so far", she said.
"I will hold another industrial meet on February 13 in Mumbai and after that we will seek an appointment with the Prime Minister", the chief minister said.
Comments
0 comment