'I didn't escape meeting Trinamool Congress delegation on Oct 3': Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti

Kolkata: Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, on Saturday, rubbished the allegations of Trinamool Congress of her "escaping" through the backdoor of her office at Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi to avoid the delegation of West Bengal's ruling party.

“I did not have much work at my office on that day. Still I went to the office, just to meet the delegation. But they kept on increasing the numbers of representatives in the delegation. First they said it will be a five-member delegation. Then they increased the number to 10. Then again they said that the full Parliamentary Party will come to meet me.

"I agreed even to that and accordingly asked my office colleagues to make arrangements. But at the last moment they demanded that I will have to meet the common people accompanying them first,” the Union minister said at the party office.

Jyoti also said that while she never had any objection to the common people, she wanted to meet the Trinamool Congress delegation first.

“While they are complaining about non-payments under the 100-day job scheme under MGNREGS, there are also complaints of irregularities in distribution of job cards. So, I wanted to discuss with the delegation of the ruling party from the state first. I waited for around two and half hours on that day, Had I not had any intention to meet them I would not have been present at New Delhi and gone to my office. I would not have waited so long for the delegation,” she said.

She also said that since 2019, the Union Rural Development Ministry had been giving letters to the West Bengal government pointing out irregularities in implementation of the MGNREGS.

"But the state government had ignored that continuously and refused to take any action to arrest such irregularities. If the ruling party leadership thinks that the Union government is holding back funds under the scheme illegally why is it not moving to the court? They will never do that since they know that in that case there will be a CBI probe in the matter,” the Union minister said.