KOLKATA: Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress and a party MP, has stepped forth to defend the West Bengal government's decision to announce a contribution of Rs 60,000 to each of the 45,000 registered Durga puja committees in addition to a 60% energy bill subsidy.

"The Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did the right thing by providing the donation, which is only a small amount of about Rs 250 crore. The Chief Minister did the right thing by providing a subsidy of merely Rs 250 crore if the BJP can build a statute in Gujarat for Rs 3,000 crore and spend Rs 8,000 crore on an air plain "On Thursday afternoon, Abhishek Banerjee spoke to a group of party members at Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium.

He attacked the BJP harshly, claiming that the more the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are allowed to operate freely, the stronger Trinamool Congress will be as a result of their recent operations in West Bengal.

Abhishek Banerjee referred to Union Home Minister Amit Shah as the "worst part" of the current Union cabinet and blamed him for releasing these central agencies. "He is the largest Pappu in the nation. He is attempting to instill in us a sense of patriotism, but his son Jai Shah is reluctant to accept the Tricolor" he said.  He said that BJP simply understands how to modify place names.

"If they had won the election in West Bengal, the names of Midnapore and Darjeeling would have been altered to "Modinipur" and "Modijiling," respectively. But in the 2021 Assembly elections, the people of West Bengal delivered a proper retort to the BJP. In the panchayat election next year and finally in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, I'm confident that the BJP will receive a comparable and appropriate response "said Abhishek Banerjee.

Samik Bhattacharya, the state BJP spokesperson for West Bengal, responded to his statement by saying that there is no need to pay attention to what he says. "He is saying all these things out of desperation and fear," he said.

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