Singhvi takes on Amit Mitra over central funds for Bengal

Firing a fresh salvo in the latest standoff with the Trinamool Congress over central assistance for West Bengal, the Congress Wednesday accused the state government of deliberately “understating and suppressing” central assistance.

In a strongly worded statement days after state Finance Minister Amit Mitra rejected his claim that the Mamata Banerjee-led dispensation has been sanctioned about Rs.8,000 crore aid in its first few months in office, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleged that Mitra had twisted his comments.

“Mitra had attacked my statement as untrue and doubted my ability to understand economics and deliberately chose to speak of disbursals instead of allocation, which alone I had mentioned,” Singhvi said in the statement.

“The facts and figures obtained from the union finance ministry demonstrates not only the complete error of Mitra’s statement but also shows that there appears to be a deliberate attempt to understate and suppress central assistance to Bengal. What may be the reason for this strange attitude is anybody’s guess,” he said.

Singhvi Sunday had claimed that the central government had approved near about Rs.8,000 crore to Bengal (under BRGE scheme).

Describing Singhvi’s claim Sunday as “absolutely incorrect”, Mitra Monday said: “I hope he will correct himself. He is perhaps ill-informed.

“So far we have not got a single paisa from the centre as relief package. He (Singhvi) is a good lawyer. I appreciate being a lawyer, he may not understand economics at all,” Mitra had said.

Countering Mitra, Singhvi stated that Rs.6,754 worth of proposals from Bengal stand approved by the empowered committee in the Planning Commission. Between May 20, 2011 and Feb 6 this year, approximately Rs.23,695 crore has been “disbursed/released by the centre to the state under various schemes,” he said.

The Congress leader also took a dig at Mitra’s comment that being a lawyer, he may not understand economics at all.

“It may be true that I am not an economist, but that is not important. What is important is than an eminent economist and finance minister of the state did not know these figures or did not care to find them out… when he issued a blanket refutation of my comment, saying that not a single paisa has been received.”

In a parting shot to “good friend” Mitra, Singhvi said: “Facts remain sacred whether you are an economist or a lawyer, whether in public life or in chambers of commerce.”

“Nor should politics change them”.

The Congress and Trinamool are alliance partners in both the central and state governments. But the relationship between the two parties have been strained following Trinamool’s opposition to key economic and political legislations at the centre and the Congress’ agitation on contentious issues in West Bengal like farmer suicides.