The BJP on Wednesday described the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal as an extension of the Left Front’s “34-year misrule” and claimed that the only industrial development in the State is the “building of bomb-making factories”.

Siddharth Nath Singh, the co-in-charge of the BJP in West Bengal, took exception to the full-page advertisements placed by the State government in most national and regional newspapers, touting the State’s economic development achievements. Describing the ad-spree using taxpayer’s money as a “blatant distortion of statistics” for political purposes, Singh accused the TMC of turning West Bengal into an “ungovernable State” which has deteriorated into a State of “terminal decline”.

Refuting the TMC’s claim of increasing growth in the State, he said there was little Own Tax Revenue rise and that the OTR ration to the State’s GDP was only 5.7 per cent, one of the lowest in the country. The debt ratio meanwhile, was at 35 per cent, more than that of BJP-ruled States like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, he added.

Bomb boom “The TMC government’s claim that Bengal is witnessing a boom in industrialisation is contrary to the ground reality. Industries like jute and tea are closing down. Only one industry is flourishing — bomb making.

“The lack of industrialisation is because of the growth of syndicate under TMC which were called local committees under the CPI(M). The government’s donations to these syndicates have grown to ₹115 crore in 2015 from ₹15.62 crore in 2012,” Singh said.

The State is scheduled to see Assembly elections in April.

Buttressing his point that Bengal’s 10.48 per cent growth in 2014-15 is due to its low base, he said a poor State like Bihar had grown by 17 per cent for the same reason.

The State government’s claim about starting of projects worth over ₹91,000 crore was also “misleading”, he said, noting that work worth over ₹70,000 crore pertained to the Centre.

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