BJP Bats For Sandeshkhali Candidate In War Of Words With Trinamool

The TMC on Thursday said that BJP candidate Rekha Patra availed of the state's 'Swasthya Sathi' health insurance scheme, prompting the saffron party to assert that the ruling party should not claim proprietorship of any social welfare projects which are funded by taxpayers' money.

Patra, a homemaker from the troubled region of Sandeshkhali and an alleged torture victim in the hands of arrested TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his cohorts, was nominated by the BJP to contest from Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, of which Sandeshkhali is a part.

In a post on X, the TMC's Tamluk candidate and the party's social media wing head Debangshu Bhattacharya claimed that Patra had availed the state-sponsored health insurance scheme in 2021.

Bhattacharya also shared a purported card used by Patra which showed she had attended a 'Duare Sarkar' (state government outreach programme) camp) on March 25, 2021, to avail the benefits of Swasthya Sathi and Lakshmir Bhandar, a financial assistance scheme for women.

Patra confirmed that she had enrolled for the state-sponsored schemes but countered as a citizen of the state, she is entitled to avail of any state-sponsored welfare schemes.

Referring to Bhattacharya's post, Adhikari claimed in a rally in Kolkata that the "uprising of poor, marginalised women in Sandeshkhali" will mark the end of the reign of TMC in West Bengal.

Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said, "I am stunned by their (TMC) audacity. How can you post in public the Swasthya Sathi and Duare Sarkar details of an individual on social media?" "Also more importantly, if a citizen of Bengal makes a move to avail the social welfare benefit schemes of the state government, how can you point fingers at her? Can the TMC claim proprietorship to state projects? Is West Bengal TMC's zamindari?" he asked.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said that everyone is certainly entitled to the state's welfare projects but BJP should refrain from peddling "falsehood" that benefits of such projects do not reach the intended beneficiaries.

Adhikari also claimed that the Lok Sabha elections will begin the end of TMC rule in Bengal.

"Within the next six months, the Mamata Banerjee government will be thrown in the Bay of Bengal. BJP will win more than 30 seats and the TMC government will collapse," he said.

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