The Trinamul Congress and the BJP on Monday locked horns over the effectiveness of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) whose seventh edition will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday here.

The BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari posted a statement on X, along with a video mocking the ruling dispensation and the BGBS.

“Another jamboree at public expense will begin tomorrow as the 7th edition of BGBS will be held on 21st and 22nd November! This BGBS summit is neither about Business & is far from being Global, it’s only glossy lies which would be served to the people of Bengal!” wrote Adhikari, leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly.

“Would the Chief Minister care to inform the people of West Bengal, how much of the PROPOSED investments, amounting to 15.7 lakh CRORE Rupees; garnered in the 6 previous editions of BGBS have been implemented on ground? Kindly publish where it got implemented along with a list of those who got employment due to such investment!” he added.

The Opposition in Bengal has been belligerent against the Mamata Banerjee government’s “failure” to regenerate industrialisation — in the conventional sense — of the state, despite having been in power for over 12 years.

In September, Adhikari and others from the BJP had demanded answers on the yield, from the chief minister and her government, compared to the dent to the cash-strapped state exchequer from her trip to Spain and the UAE.

“On behalf of the people of West Bengal let me ask her, what happened to Deocha Pachami, where she announced 2 lakh jobs; has even one kilogram of Coal been extracted from the mines there? And what is the current status of Tajpur Port for which the Agreement was signed with much fanfare?” asked the Nandigram MLA.

“BGBS is not Bengal Global Business Summit. It’s a 2-day Mamata-made-Mirage, consciously projected as an oasis in the barren desert of deindustrialization in WB, to deceive the people into believing that Bengal is on the path of economic boom,” he added.

Adhikari went on: “With Mamata Banerjee at the helm of affairs, Bengal doesn’t mean Business. BGBS is all about signing fake MOUs, showing vague Expression of Interests & issuing Letters of Intent that end up in the dustbin. BGBS in reality is a facade masking the Businesses’ Graveyard in a Bankrupt State….”

Trinamul state general secretary Kunal Ghosh also took to X, tagging Adhikari.

“LoP @SuvenduWB has himself debunked his misguided attempt to discredit BGBS and its undeniable achievements – 7 out of his 8-minute 32-second video talks about the ₹15,74,892 crores worth of investment proposals received across the 6 editions of BGBS,” he wrote.

“To enlighten Mr. Adhikari, I’ll have him know that: Bengal’s GDP has been growing at 12.6%, outpacing the national average; It increased threefold from ₹4.74 lakh crore in 2011 to ₹14.44 lakh crore in 2020-21; Over 75% of the West Bengal GVA comes from industries and manufacturing; The State is home to India’s second highest number of MSMEs,” he added. “Your ostrich mentality won’t change the reality of Bengal’s thriving industrial landscape!”