New Delhi: Despite the West Bengal Finance
Minister rubbishing the claim, Congress on Monday insisted that
the Centre has sanctioned Rs 7,800 crore to the Mamata
Banerjee Government, which has accused it of non-cooperation
in extending financial assistance.
"Figures speak for themselves. I am repeating what I
said in Kolkata yesterday that an amount of Rs 7,800 crore
was sanctioned by the Centre but am not sure as to what amount
has been released or not released or whether the state
government has utilized the funds so released", party
spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.
His reaction came close on the heels of West Bengal
Finance Minister Amit Mitra rubbishing his claim and
maintaining that no amount had been received so far to the
cash-strapped government from the Centre.
"The claim is absolutely incorrect. So far not a
single paise has been received as part of a central relief
package. Perhaps he is ill-informed," Mitra told a press
conference in Kolkata.
Pleading that West Bengal be given a special economic
package to bail out the state which was saddled with a debt
burden of Rs 2.3 lakh crore left by the previous Left Front
regime, Mitra said, "It is possible that Singhvi is
misinformed."
Mamata's Trinamool Congress is at loggerheads with the
Congress and the Centre on various issues and their ties have
been strained for sometime.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 06, 2012, 22:37