‘We love Bangladesh, but...’: Mamata Banerjee says won’t allow Teesta agreement
Mamata Banerjee said sharing of Teesta water will mean depriving north Bengal of even drinking water, let alone any provision for irrigation purposes
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said at the state legislative assembly on Monday that her government was opposed to any agreement between India and Bangladesh over sharing of the Teesta River water and alleged that the BJP was trying to divide the state.
Maintaining that she loves the people of Bangladesh, Banerjee said sharing of Teesta water will mean “depriving north Bengal of even drinking water”, let alone any provision for irrigation purposes.
“We love Bangladesh. There is not enough water in the River Teesta to be shared with Bangladesh. People of north Bengal will not have access to drinking water. I will not allow anything like that,” Banerjee said in the assembly.
Earlier in June the chief minister had sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that no discussions on sharing of water of River Teesta and the Farakka Treaty should be taken up with Bangladesh without the involvement of the West Bengal government.
Banerjee told the assembly that she demanded the formation of an India-Bhutan river commission at the recent Niti Aayog meeting in Delhi.
She also slammed the BJP alleging that the party was trying to divide Bengal and even proposed a voting on the issue.
“The stand of the BJP is clear. We don’t want West Bengal to be divided or an Union Territory carved out with some districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand. These may be some individual views. The infiltrators need to be identified at the earliest. The BJP after coming to power will bring smile on the faces of the people of North Bengal by meeting their bonafide demands and do away with years of deprivation,” Suvendu Adhikari, BJP legislator told media persons in Kolkata.
Meanwhile, state minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia moved a special notice in the legislative assembly stating that it was a matter of serious concern that the chief minister’s microphone was “switched off” in the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi on Saturday when she was speaking on behalf of the state.
The BJP, however, staged a walkout.
“The BJP has opposed this. The special mention has to be withdrawn. The chief minister’s behaviour at the NITI Aayog meeting was not in line with parliamentary democracy. The NITI Aayog has rubbished all her allegations,” Shankar Ghosh, BJP legislator, told media persons outside the assembly.
“A discussion was held after I brought a special mention in the assembly on how the chief minister was not allowed to speak at the NITI Aayog meeting. The discussion has unmasked the BJP and how it was depriving the West Bengal. The BJP legislators boycotted the assembly as they were not able to show their face in shame to the people of Bengal,” Bhunia told reporters.