War of words between ruling, oppn parties over Bengal flood situation continues

Kolkata : A war of words between the ruling Trinamool Congress and Opposition BJP over the West Bengal government's constant attacks holding Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) responsible for the flood situation in West Bengal continued on Monday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while speaking to the media persons at the sidelines of her administrative meeting at East Burdwan district on Monday noon, claimed that lakhs of people in West Bengal face immense suffering for the release of water by DVC, which is a Central government undertaking.

"West Bengal and Assam are always the worst-affected states because of floods. We get scared if there is excessive rainfall in Jharkhand, because flood waters are released from there. This happens even in the case of Bihar, where embankments are broken to release water," the Chief Minister said.

By directly referring to the horrific rape and murder of a junior doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital last month, Chief Minister Banerjee claimed that there are always attempts to create a negative narrative about the state on any issue.

"I will request all to be watchful that unnecessary canards are spread on any issue. If five tasks are being done, there are chances of mistake in one. This is not the time to create negative narratives. We should all stand by the flood-affected people in the state," the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, State BJP President and Union Minister, Sukanta Majumdar, on Friday claimed that that the decision of the state government to withdraw from representation in Damodar Valley Reservoir Regulation Committee (DVRRC) is nothing but a ploy to "divert public attention from the continuing public outrage over the R.G. Kar tragedy".

"The manner in which the state government has withdrawn its representation in DVRRC is totally unconstitutional. The Chief Minister is using the bureaucrats to serve her political purposes. Such things happen nowhere in India. It seems that the Chief Minister is trying to establish West Bengal as a separate nation within India. But we will never allow that," Union Minister Majumdar said.