The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Saturday responded to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's allegation of not allowing trains, carrying migrant workers, to reach the state, saying that the "Centre is lying".
Shah had said the West Bengal government was not allowing trains with migrant workers to reach the state and that may lead to more hardships for the labourers.
In a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Shah said not allowing trains to reach West Bengal is "injustice" to the migrant workers from the state.
In response to these allegations, the TMC said: "Centre is lying, eight trains are ready to ferry passengers to West Bengal from different states."
The West Bengal government also said that it was not on part of the Centre to allege that CM Banerjee was not allowing migrants to the state. "Sixteen migrants died on your watch, will rail minister take responsibility?" the party asked.
It said that the West Bengal is running 711 camps for migrants in state and that it is taking good care of them.
This is the latest instance of allegations and counter-allegations via letters between the Mamata Banerjee-led state government and the Centre. The bitter exchange has been on since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Centre has accused the West Bengal government of covering up deaths related to the virus and strategies that are counterproductive to containing the virus.
As per the Ministry of Health's latest numbers, West Bengal has one of the worst mortality rates due to COVID-19 in the country, with 160 deaths and 1,678 active cases.
(With PTI Inputs)
