Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and the outgoing Mayor of Asansol Municipal Corporation (AMC) Jitendra Tiwari has accused the TMC of not letting Asansol receive Rs 2,000 crores under the Government of India’s Smart City Mission project because of “political reasons.”
In a letter written to his Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) counterpart Firhad Hakim, Tiwari directly hit out at Hakim and said that Asanol did not receive the development money due to “political reasons”.
Tiwari also alleged that even though the Mamata Banerjee government promised to disperse funds for the development projects, it was not done.
He further stated that Asansol would have received an additional Rs 1,500 crore under Solid Waste Management from the Centre, but the state department did not let Asansol get those benefits.
Meanwhile, Firhad Hakim stated that Tiwari should have discussed the matter with him. Hakim further stated that “writing a letter is not the right thing to do”.
“If he wants to leave the party he is free to do so. But I believe he will stay. The BJP is misguiding some people,” Hindustan Times quoted Hakim as saying.
On Monday, 14 December, Tiwari also wrote to the higher education department stating that he would like to resign from the two local bodies.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)