Congress poses hard-hitting questions to PM Modi ahead of his Malda rally in Bengal
Ramesh also accused the Modi government of neglecting the Malda airport for almost 10 years; the runway, built years ago, is now being used by morning walkers
The Congress on Friday posed some uncomfortable questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his election rally at Malda in West Bengal, including why he had done nothing to foil river erosion there.
Posting a series of questions on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also raised the endemic problem of cattle smuggling in the area.
The questions
"Questions for PM as he visits Malda: Why has the PM done nothing to prevent river erosion in Malda? What about Malda airport? What has the PM done to halt the illegal smuggling of cattle?" asked Ramesh.
He said thousands of families in Malda district suffer as their land gets eroded by the Ganga and Fulahar rivers.
Soil erosion
He quoted BJP MLA Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhary as writing to the PM in 2023 highlighting that most victims were from the Scheduled Castes or Other Backward Classes.
Most of the Malda district lies in the region of the Farakka Barrage, operated by the Central government, the Congress leader said.
"Ten years after coming to power, and despite generous on-paper allocations to Namami Gange, why has the Modi sarkar not made a single intervention to protect Malda's families from the rampant river erosion," he asked.
Malda airport
Ramesh also accused the Modi government of neglecting the Malda airport for almost 10 years.
He pointed out that the West Bengal government had built a runway even before Modi became the prime minister in 2014. The airport would have boosted local business, more so for Malda’s mangoes. But the runway is now being used by morning walkers.
Ramesh recalled the promises by the BJP to provide airport services to Malda.
Cattle smuggling
The airport runway, he said, was being used by people for their morning walk, he said.
"What has the Prime Minister done in the last 10 years to halt the illegal smuggling of cattle into Bangladesh?" Ramesh asked.
He said cattle smuggling across the Bangladesh border was a reality due to cattle smuggling from other BJP-ruled states and the failure of the Centre.
"At the national level, the BSF and the Customs Department are responsible for aiding and abetting the smuggling mafia. At the state level, the origin of most of the cattle is BJP-ruled states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh," he claimed.
