If anyone can prove I had tea without paying, I'll quit: CM Mamata Banerjee
Times of India | 17 January 2024
KOLKATA: "If anyone can prove I had tea at a stall and did not pay, I will quit," CM Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday.
"Among my five fingers, one can have a cut... one small incident does not make all bad," she added.
Speaking to reporters at Nabanna, the CM said: "I know BJP is saying everyone is a thief. They are the biggest thieves. They are bigger robbers, toughs and criminals.They are being protected by agencies. Agency is today saving them."
Asserting that she had not drawn "even one paisa" as CM, Banerjee said: "I have not taken any wages. If I stay in state guest houses, I pay, even for the food. I am entitled to Rs 1.5 lakh as pension; I have been a seven-time MP. I have not taken a single paisa in the last 13 years."
"This (pension) and the wages would easily make a monthly earning of Rs 3.5 lakh. Till now that would have been crores. What do I need it for? I have only one meal a day. I do not even have rice or roti. I am happy that I have a cot to sleep in," she added.
Banerjee took a dig at the BJP-led Centre for claiming that the Centre was funding the Jalswapno scheme when the state was providing land and giving water connections as well as maintaining pipelines. "We have a 75% share, while they have a 25% share, that too from GST funds. All people across the state will get potable water by the end of 2024 or latest by February 2025," the CM said.
She also blamed the Centre for stopping 100 days of work under MGNREGS, adding: "But I did not stop it." Different state departments in Bengal employed workers for at least 40 days. Job card holders were being employed in Matir Sristi or other PWD projects to construct roads, Banerjee said.
She claimed central policies had caused poverty to go up 40% in the country.
The CM said while the Centre was sending guidelines to deal with the pandemic, it was she who took to the roads to create awareness, adding that she lost two family members to Covid.
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