Mamata takes offence to Jairam Ramesh’s jibe letter

Kolkata  :  In the wake of a letter by union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to West Bengal government in which he took a jibe at Mamata Banerjee over her “UPA brain dead” remark, the chief minister Saturday was shocked at the “attitude” of the central government.

The letter dated Oct 19 and addressed to Banerjee, gives details about the release of funds under the MGNREGA scheme to West Bengal.

Posting a copy of the letter on Facebook Saturday, Banerjee expressed shock and sought the public’s opinion on the jibe made by Ramesh.

Stating that West Bengal has so far received Rs.2,655.2 crore for the year under the rural job scheme, Ramesh, taking a jibe at Banerjee’s earlier comments has written: “Incidentally, may I add that this reflects how sensitive the so-called ‘brain-dead government in Delhi’ is to the needs of the people of West Bengal”.

Earlier on Oct 15, Banerjee had compared the UPA to a patient on his death bed. The Trinamool supremo had said, “It is now brain-dead and on ventilator. Everybody knows the patient is dead. Only somebody has to remove the tube.”

Describing the release of funds under the central government schemes as “a pure governmental activity and not a matter of charity,” Banerjee wrote: “Good and effective governance deserves a clear delineation of governmental activity and political activity.”

“I would invite your attention to para 4 of the letter uploaded. The statement is clearly vindictive, unethical and unconstitutional. I am really stunned to see that a union minister can write a distasteful statement like this to a State Government,” wrote Banerjee.

She said that such a move creates a “bad precedence and adds stigma to healthy democratic fibre”.

File Photo  : AFP