Assets belong to country, not BJP nor Narendra Modi: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee attacks Centre on NMP policy

New Delhi: Slamming the Central government over National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) policy, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (August 25) said it is a ploy to sell the assets that belong to the country and called the monestisation scheme a “shocking and unfortunate decision.”

The Trinamool Congress chief also alleged that the money generated from selling these assets will be used by the ruling BJP during elections against opposition parties, PTI reported. 

“We condemn this shocking and unfortunate decision. These assets belong to the country. It is the property of neither Modi nor the BJP. They (central government) can't just sell a country's assets as per their whims and fancies," PTI quoted Banerjee as saying.

"The BJP should be ashamed. No one has given them the right to sell our nation's assets," she told reporters at West Bengal secretariat Nabanna. 

Further, the West Bengal CM said that the entire country will stand together and oppose this "anti-people" decision. 

Banerjee’s remark comes after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that includes unlocking value by involving private companies across infrastructure sectors -- from passenger trains and railway stations to airports, roads and stadiums. 

The government plans to monetise assets-- including 25 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports, those at Chennai, Bhopal, Varanasi and Vadodara, as well as 40 railway stations, 15 railway stadiums and an unidentified number of railway colonies have been identified for getting private investments-- over a four-year period, from Financial Year 2022 to Financial Year 2025. 

Earlier on Wednesday, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also lashed out at the Centre over the NMP policy and accused the Narendra Modi-led Centre of putting “India on sale". Gandhi tweeted, “First they sold faith and now #IndiaOnSale." He had also called the NMP a "huge tragedy". 

(With agency inputs)

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