Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday sparred over funds meant for disaster management, repair and rehabilitation.
In Calcutta, Adhikari said he would write to Union home minister Amit Shah and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, alleging that Mamata and her bureaucrats transferred ₹134 crore from the disaster relief fund to the state panchayat and rural development department.
Mamata, in Siliguri, countered the “misleading information”, saying the state allocated funds to its departments to repair damage caused by natural disasters.
“We want an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). We demand stern action against senior officials who approved the fund diversion,” said Adhikari, who showed documents claiming that money had been diverted. He also furnished a letter which the Union home secretary has sent to Raju Bista, the Darjeeling BJP MP, on November 1, stating that ₹5,899.90 crore was with the state for relief management of natural calamities.
Bista has been questioning why the state did not use the funds for flood- and landslide-hit people of the hills and foothills since October 5.
Mamata, who reached Siliguri this afternoon, challenged these allegations without naming either Adhikari or Bista.
“Such letters are political letters… we want to know the person who is referring to such letters, what he has done for Darjeeling. After the recent floods and landslides, did anybody turn up from the central government in the affected areas?” Mamata said.
She said the state allocates funds to repair roads and rebuild houses after natural disasters. “These roads and houses were damaged due to a natural disaster. We assign state departments for such work, and funds are given to them. These are parts of disaster management… Who are they to raise questions? Are they auditors?” she asked.
“Since 2021, time and again, aid was sought from the Centre, but no money was paid to the state. As elections are ahead, the BJP is spreading false and misleading information,” said Mamata.