Mamata Banerjee's "Bulldozer" Swipe At Centre During Bengal Summit

Launching a potshot against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Centre amid the bulldozer row, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her Trinamool government wants to unite people instead of bulldozing, adding that Bengal Global Business Summit will help create another 40 lakhs jobs in the state.

Mamata Banerjee laid the mantra of 3Ts for her governance -- "trust, technology and teamwork."

"We do not want to bulldoze. We do not want to divide the people, we want to unite the people. Unity is our main strength. Culturally you will be very sound if you are united. But, if you are divided, it will fall. I believe in trust, technology and teamwork," said the Chief Minister at Bengal Global Business Summit on Thursday.

Chief Minister Banerjee said the sixth edition of the summit has received investment proposals worth Rs 3,42,375 crore leading to the creation of 40 lakh new jobs in the state.

She said as many as 4,300 delegates from 42 countries participated in the two-day summit and 138 MoUs have been signed.

Ms Benerjee's remarks come just a day after the rolling of bulldozers in Delhi's Jahangirpuri on Wednesday as a part of the anti-encroachment drive of BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).

The drive that was halted by the Supreme Court was launched just days after violent clashes broke out in Delhi's Jahangirpuri on April 16 between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession that left nine people injured, including eight police personnel and a civilian.

Pertinent to mention here, authorities ran the bulldozer over about 45 houses and shops in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone where several people including police personnel were injured when groups of people pelted stones at each other during a Ram Navami procession on April 10.

The 'Bengal Global Business Summit' started at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday laid out an eight-pillar strategy for the development of the state and making it a global hub for business.

Addressing the Summit, the Chief Minister said, "We do not divide people on the basis of caste, creed and religion. We stay like family. Irrespective of one being from any part of the country, whenever one is in Bengal, he or she becomes part of our family and should be comfortable here."

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo emphasized infrastructure development and no-strike culture in order to instill an 'ease of doing business' ecosystem transforming West Bengal into a global hub for trade.

"West Bengal is the first state to organize a physical business summit since COVID pandemic struck. There are eight pillars on which our strategy lays. First is world-class infrastructure, second is education, third is social security for the unprivileged and the fourth is skill development," said Ms Banerjee.

She further said, "The fifth pillar is expanding capital infrastructure while the sixth is the ease of doing business, the seventh is digitalization and the eighth is no strike and no man-days loss."

Industrialists from different countries attended the event. Gautam Adani, chairperson of Adani Group also graced the event.

Gautam Adani on Wednesday said the company's investment in West Bengal would exceed Rs 10,000 crore over the next decade.

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