"Can Go To Spain But...": Congress Leader's Dig At Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her trip to Spain amid the spread of dengue cases in the state saying that she can go to Spain but is incapable of understanding people's pain.

"We had already warned the state government about the rampant spread of dengue during August-September. This is due to the ignorance of the government towards the common people. They can go to Spain but cannot understand the pain of people here," the state Congress chief said speaking to reporters at a press conference in West Bengal's Murshidabad.

Adhir Ranjan further attacked the Chief Minister for staying at a luxurious hotel in Spain during her trip to the European nation.

"We have heard that the Chief Minister does not take her salary. She sustains herself from the sale of her books and from her paintings. How could you afford to stay at a hotel in Madrid that costs Rs 3 lakhs per day?" the Congress leader asked.

Describing the visit as a 'luxury trip', Adhir Ranjan asked, "How much did you spend on this trip? Which industrialist have you brought here? Don't fool the people here."

"If 10 per cent of what you had spent in Biswa Bangla industrial meet would have come back, lakhs of those unemployed in Bengal would have got jobs. We want to know which Spanish companies want to invest in Bengal," he further added.

Speaking on the Vande Bharat Express trains flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, Adhir Ranjan said, PM Modi had promised Bullet trains, now they are running 'Guler' (joke) train. Vande Bharats do not run at their actual speed. Its fare is higher than normal trains."

On Shantiniketan getting included in the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List, the Congress MP said, "Shantiniketan does not need any other certification. It stands in its own right...At first please see that there is a congenial environment to study in Shanti Niketan in the manner that Rabindranath intended. Every day there is fight between RSS and TMC ideologues."

Adhir Ranjan rubbished the recent accreditation of Murshidabad's Kiriteshwari village as the Best Tourism Village of India by the Ministry of Culture saying that there is nothing in the village except an ancient temple.

"There is nothing in Kiriteswari except an ancient temple. They practice temple politics, let them do that...I would like every Nawab-era architecture in Murshidabad to be protected. I have met and given a letter to Minister Meghawal in this regard," Adhir Ranjan said.

On the Parliament passing the Women's Reservation Bill in the Special Session of the Parliament, the Congress leader said that these are brought about just to distract the people from the real problems that they currently face. 

"Modi government creates new issues before elections. At times Women's Reservation Bill, at times One Nation One Election...It is not easy to implement 'One Nation One Election' in our country. Modi knows this and everyone knows this. But it is important to address the issues of today. It is just a distraction to deflect people from their real problems," he said.

Speaking on the Ramesh Bidhuri episode in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan said, "We have written to the Speaker. This is BJP's new thinking in the new Parliament. We condemn the way the BJP has insulted our Parliamentary culture...When we speak in the House, we are told that we disrespect the Prime Minister. Instead, the BJP is insulting all democratic values."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)