Mamata Banerjee attacked the BJP after she was not invited to metro launch. (File)
West Bengal Chief Minister on Friday afternoon hit out at the BJP in the state assembly, a day after she was not invited for the East-West Metro corridor launch in Kolkata. Ms Banerjee said she and her team had to "shed tears" for the approval of the project - flagged off by Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday- when she was the Railway Minister but the BJP lacked courtesy to invite her for the innauguration.
"We had worked hard for the East-West Metro project. We had to literally shed tears for it (approval). I felt bad that even for a small route, they (BJP) don't have the courtesy to call me and inform," Ms Banerjee said in the state assembly. The 65-year-old Trinamool Congress chief was the Railway Minister between 2009 and 2011.
The first phase of the East-West Metro corridor between Salt Lake Sector-V to Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata was flagged off on Thursday. The event was attended by Union Minister Babul Supriyo but leaders of Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress gave the innauguration a miss after her name was missing in the invitation.
Mr Goyal, while speaking at Thursday's event, accused the Bengal government of depriving the people of the state of the benefits of central schemes such as the Ayushman Bharat and Prime Minister Kisan Yojana.
"We (central government) want to give more projects to West Bengal, but the state is not allowing those," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
"In the Ayushman Bharat programme, nearly one crore people have got the benefits, but people of Bengal were deprived of it," he said.
Hitting back at the BJP after Mr Goyal's remarks, Ms Banerjee on Friday attacked senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath's government in Uttar Pradesh.
"In Bengal, we have stepped up laws against women. Police immediately file complaint against crime against women but look at Uttar Pradesh. In UP, victims are burnt alive and their families are attacked. If you want to see the law and order situation, send a team to UP," she said.
The latest sparring between Ms Banerjee and BJP comes as she continues to voice opposition against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA that has led to massive protests across the country. The CAA makes religion test for citizenship for the first time. Government says it will grant citizenship to persecuted minorities of three Muslim-dominated neighbouring countries, while critics have labelled it as "anti-Muslim".
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)