Senior TMC leader Derek Obrien on Saturday said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah should retract the letter or apologise for his allegations that the West Bengal government was not allowing trains with migrant workers.
"Retract letter or apologise. It is part of the Home Minister’s DNA to play politics during the national epidemic. Sleep if nothing else. He can never be like the lady in Bengal, stop divisive politics. West Bengal is a sensitive state, but still, he doesn’t care," Derek Obrien said.
Obrien slammed Amit Shah over the Aurangabad train accident. "Someone from your office should show you pictures of Aurangabad train accident. Who is responsible?", TMC leader said. He also questioned Home Minister for not consulting states over lockdown. "How many times did you consult states before announcing lockdown?," asked Obrien.
The continuing saga of the acrimony between West Bengal Government and the Centre took another turn for the worse today after Union Home Minister Amit Shah sent a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, expressing his dismay over the state government stonewalling efforts by the Centre to facilitate transportation of migrant labourers back to their home state of West Bengal.
"Central government has facilitated more than two lakh migrants to reach home. Migrants from West Bengal are also eager to reach home. Central govt is facilitating but we are not getting the expected support from West Bengal," wrote Amit Shah in a letter to Mamata Banerjee. Amit Shah further added in his letter that the state government was not allowing trains to enter West Bengal.
"This is injustice with West Bengal migrant labourers. This will create further hardship for them," he wrote. This is the latest instance of allegations and counter-allegations via letters that have been going on since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, wherein the Centre has accused the West Bengal government of covering up deaths related to the virus and strategies that are counterproductive to containing the virus.
