West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated on November 15 that the state may cease paying the goods and services tax (GST) if the federal government refuses to grant cash for development projects, ratcheting up her criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.
The chief minister and other Trinamool Congress leaders have long claimed that the Centre stopped funding the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
In response, the BJP claimed that the Centre had to tighten control since the state administration had neglected to provide records of how the money was spent.
In advance of the crucial panchayat elections in West Bengal, which are set for the first half of 2023, work on several important developmental projects slowed down due to a shortage of funding.
Suvendu Adhikary, the opposition leader in West Bengal, wrote to Nirmala Sitharaman, the minister of finance of the Union, earlier this year, alleging that the state government was illegally diverting funds intended for federal programs.News Mania Desk
