Medinipur MP June Maliah and Ghatal MP Dev, both of whom are claimed to have switched to the rebel TMC camp in the Lok Sabha, as well as Keshpur MLA Siuli Saha, attended the administrative meeting held by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in Purba Medinipur district, reported news agency PTI.
What Dev said
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Dev said, “As always, Dev has vouched for the politics of keeping people united, the politics of loving people and whichever party it may be or its inclination, I have always respected them.”
He went on to add, “The new CM has come. As a representative of Ghatal Lok Sabha, I have spoken with him during the administrative meeting. He has told infront of everyone that the ‘Ghatal masterplan’ will be completed by this government. It was started off by the old government.”
More details
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday said West Bengal was lagging behind others in implementing various Central schemes, asserting that politics can be done during the elections, but development work should get priority the rest of the time. This was the fifth administrative meeting of the new BJP government in the state since it took charge on May 9.
Adhikari said the “Ghatal masterplan” will be implemented to alleviate annual flood-related problems caused by the Damodar river in the Ghatal block of Paschim Medinipur district. In a remark aimed at the previous TMC rule, the chief minister said the highly politicised atmosphere of West Bengal had seen “police stations turn into party offices, and panchayat offices become cut money collection centres”.
The chief minister said all the 35 MLAs invited for the administrative meeting, including those from the TMC, were present. On completing one month in office, Adhikari said that although it is a very short time to assess the BJP government’s work, his administration has managed to break the deadlock and move forward in several matters which were pending for a long time during the previous Mamata Banerjee dispensation.
The chief minister said his government has started implementing the ‘Annapurna Yojana’, promised in the BJP‘s manifesto for the West Bengal assembly election, and more than 50 lakh women have received ₹3,000 in their bank accounts.
On the work front, Dev was last seen in the family drama Projapati 2. He recently announced DeSu7 (starring alongside Subhashree Ganguly), which will release later this year during Durga Puja.
BJP legislature party leader Suvendu Adhikari took oath as the chief minister of West Bengal earlier last month, heading the first BJP government in the state. Narendra Modi’s BJP defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been in power in West Bengal state since 2011.
