On Corruption Allegations, Mamata Banerjee's "Covered In Cow Dung" Remark

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has come out in defence of her government's efforts to weed out corruption from the Public Distribution System (PDS). Last month, TMC Minister Jyotipriya Mallick was arrested in connection with an alleged rations scam. 

He had served as the state's Food and Civil Supplies Minister for ten years. Since then, the Opposition, especially the BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, has been attacking her on the issue. Ms Banerjee had a message for Mr Adhikari, as well as a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The biggest thieves have covered their faces in cow dung. We are facing legacy issues. Remember 34 years. Rice was not procured from farmers. My government has attempted to clean it up and it has taken me ten years. We have discontinued one crore ration cards. Rice used to be bought through those one crore ration cards during the Left Front regime. And using one crore ration cards, false votes used to be cast. We have taken seven to eight years to remove these one crore false ration cards. We have digitised all ration cards. Can you show me one person who has died due to lack of food during Covid? Which person does not get rice? Mamata Banerjee said at Bijoya Sammelani (a post-Durga Puja meet and greet ritual) in her constituency Bhawanpore.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had said, "Mamata Banerjee tried hard to peddle a fake story that it was due to the efforts of former Minister-in-charge of Food and Supplies Department Jyotipriya Mallick (arrested in connection with the ration scam) that ration cards were digitised and more than one crore ration cards were deactivated."

"The fact is that due to the central government's insistence on Aadhar and biometric authentication, it led to the cancellation of more than one crore ration cards in West Bengal, as these cancelled cards were bogus. The large-scale cancellation/deactivation of more than 1 crore ration cards in West Bengal happened only after mandatory linkage of the Aadhaar cards of the beneficiaries with their ration cards and thus it became impossible to have multiple ration cards under one name or completely fake ration cards altogether," he had said. 

Chief Minister Banerjee had a stern message for her critics as she told her supporters to let these people in if they came with wreaths for her.

"Our lives are temporary. If I die tomorrow, you will see that those who abuse me will enter with wreaths first. Don't let even one of them enter, I am telling everyone. I don't want anyone's sympathy. I have not grown up on sympathy. I don't want anyone's sympathy. That's the reason I don't build stadiums in my own name. I don't need publicity. I don't need railway lines in my name. I don't need it. I don't do everything in my own name," Ms Banerjee said.

"They have stopped 100 days' work. Only in West Bengal are our dues pending, and these are the dues of poor people who have worked hard. Paying them their dues is mandatory according to the provisions of the Constitution. They have not been paid till today. Bangla Awas Yojana has been stopped. Work on rural roads has been stopped. And they keep saying, 'Whose leader gives jobs to every home?'" Ms Banerjee said, taking a dig at the Prime Minister.

"Earlier, the state government used to collect taxes. We thought that one tax would be helpful. Today, all taxes are collected by the central government. But our dues are from those taxes, and from there, they give 40% and we give 60%. And even then, they claim that we are doing everything. Yes, if you are doing everything, touch the sky, bring the sun, and bring the moon. Even if ISRO does something, he says, 'I did it'. The country belongs to everyone, not one person," she added.