Kolkata, Jan 6 (PTI) BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday attacked the Trinamool Congress government of West Bengal, accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of neglecting the interests of indigenous
communities and tea garden labourers, while protecting illegal immigrants.
Alleging that workers of a few tea gardens did not get salaries for the past few months, he claimed that several tribal communities, such as Rajbanshis, were consistently ignored by the TMC government, as they did not form the ruling party's political support base.
Painting a grim picture of the tea industry in north Bengal, which is a strong-hold of the BJP, Adhikari alleged that it had been "completely destroyed" during the TMC regime.
"In several gardens, workers had not received salaries for the past four to five months. Gardens like Bhatkhawa and Madhu are closed, while many others are in a critical condition," the leader of the opposition in the state assembly claimed.
Adhikari said that the Union labour minister had recently visited Siliguri to assess the situation, but asserted that the primary responsibility lay with the state government. "Management and labour issues of tea gardens fall under the West Bengal Labour Department, but it is not doing anything," he alleged.
He said that the BJP wants the state government to release the pending salaries.
The BJP leader also charged the state government with facilitating the diversion of tea garden land for commercial use.
"Mamata Banerjee passed a law in the Assembly to sell out 25 per cent of tea garden land. Restaurants, bars and wine shops are being built there. They have a complete plan to finish the tea industry," Adhikari claimed.
Referring to the Rs 1,000 crore central allocation announced in the 2021-22 budget for the welfare of workers in closed tea gardens, he alleged that while workers in Assam benefited from the scheme, those in West Bengal did not.
"Here, the tea garden land is in the hands of the TMC government," the BJP leader said.
Adhikari announced that he and other party leader would start visiting Nagrakata, Madarihat and Kalchini areas from January 24 to reach out to the tea garden workers and demand payment of their pending salaries.
He also alleged that the TMC is trying to protect infiltrators. "The chief minister wrote letters three times to keep Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators and Rohingyas on the voter list, but she did not raise this demand even once for the tea garden workers," Adhikari claimed.
The leader of the opposition was alluding to the letters Banerjee wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, raising various issues over the conduct of the SIR.
Adhikari expressed hope that the Election Commission would take steps to ensure publication of an error-free final voter list after completion of the ongoing hearing process.
He asserted that the BJP stands by all tea garden workers on the issue of inclusion of their names in the voter list and their welfare. PTI BSM NN
