Derek O'Brien fact-checks seven pieces of 'false information' by Amit Shah

Kolkata; Trinamool Congress MP, Derek O'Brien took to Twitter to hit hard against Union Home Minister Amit Shah's 7 items of purported facts about Bengal which the TMC MP terms as falst info.

In an election rally in Midnapore district, Amit Shah had made pointed allegations against Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

In a tweet under the caption "Fact-check of the speech made in Bengal by the henchman of the "tourist gang", O'Brien cited the "7 pieces of concocted, false info in one speech. Actually, by his standards, quite low!"

The self-explanatory fact-check text of Sunday read as below:

Claim: Mamata Banerjee left the Congress for another party and is accusing people of defection today. (the day saw over a dozen MPs and MLA's join the BJP in Amit Shah's presence).

Reality: She did not defect to another party. She set up a NEW party in 1998, the All India Trinamool Congress.

Claim:People in Bengal are not being given benefits under Ayushmann Bharat.

Reality: Swasthya Sathi started in Bengal two years BEFORE Ayushmann Bharat. Under Swasthya Sathi, 1.4 crore families provided health insurance benefits upto Rs 5 lakh per annum. Many better features, incuding card in the name of woman of the household.

Claim: Bengal is depriving farmers of Rs 6,000 under PM Kisan.

Reality: Bengal provides farmers annual assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre under Krishak Bandhu. PM Kisan provides only Rs 1,214 per acre. Bengal govt pays FULL insurance premium under Sasya Bima. But Centre takes part of premium from farmers under PMFBY.

Claim: 300 BJP workers have been killed in 1.5 years.

Reality: Many BJP workers are being killed because of infighting. Even death by suicides are being passed off as political killings. Since 1998, 1027 AITC workers killed in political rivalry. 116 of BJP's sitting LS MPs have criminal records.

Claim: Narendra Modi had sent food grains for people of Bengal, appropriated by TMC workers.

Reality: Under Bengal's Khadya Sathi programme, almost 10 crore people provided with free rations till June 2021.

Claim: Bengal government did not provide adequate security to JP Nadda on his visit to Bengal.

Reality: Bengal government provided Z+ security for JP Nadda, but he violaed all regulations by allowing a large convoy of vehicles to follow him.

Claim: Narendra Modi has provided houses and infrastructure for the poor in Bengal

Reality: Centre pays 60% State pays 40%. Between 2011-2020, State Government built 33,87,000 houses with expenditure Rs 39,993 crore. Under Geetanjali Prakalpa, 3,90,000 houses built with expenditure of Rs 3,550 crore. Under Housing for All scheme, 4,30,000 houses built at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore.

In a related addition to the war of words between the TMC and BJP on Bengal, and further down the comments on the tweet, political strategist Prashant Kishor, predicted a crushing defeat for the BJP in the assembly polls lying a few months away: "For all the hype AMPLIFIED by a section of supportive media, in reality BJP will struggle to CROSS DOUBLE Digits in West Bengal" and a post-script "Please save this tweet and if BJP does any better I must quit this space!", Kishor tweeted.