West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee extends support to TDP in ‘fight’ against the centre for funds

As the ties between TDP and BJP appear to be strained over the centre’s allocation of funds to Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has backed Andhra Pradesh state government saying she would support any state which was deprived of funds, similar to West Bengal.

While addressing a public meeting organised by the students’ and youth wing of the party at Kanchenjunga Stadium at Siliguri, Banerjee said, “West Bengal is facing the maximum deprivation and neglect under the present (National Democratic Alliance) regime at the centre (led by the BJP). You can’t browbeat the Trinamool by treating Bengal in a step-motherly way.And it is for similar reasons that Andhra Pradesh has also become vocal. I have been told that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) would leave the NDA because of the way Andhra Pradesh is being deprived by the Centre.” The WB CM added that she is with Andhra Pradesh and any other state which is deprived, just like Bengal.

The recently announced Union Budget has been causing a huge turmoil in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Many leaders and citizens have criticized the centre for ignoring the state in the allocation of funds to the state.

In addition to the Special Railway Zone, the state government had also urged the centre to release funds for the purposes of Amaravati, Kadapa Steel Plant and a railway division for the stretch between Vijayawada and Guntakal. The centre, however, hasn’t allocated “sufficient funds” and the leaders feel, the Modi government has fallen short of fulfilling the promises made during the state bifurcation in 2014.

Earlier this week, there were speculations that the state’s ruling party, TDP, would break its alliance with BJP. However, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said that the party would continue to maintain the alliance but would mount pressure on the centre to allocate the funds to the state. He also stated that if the demands aren’t met, the party would be forced to come out of the alliance as people’s aspirations form the state government’s primary significance.