'People at the centre copy me': Mamata Banerjee slams opposition in her address at Netaji Indoor Stadium

In her address to Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers at Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium on Thursday afternoon, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee highlighted Bengal's prominence and expressed pride in the state's global appeal. She emphasized that the arrival of representatives from 40 countries indicates Bengal's status as a desirable destination, countering any claims of its decline.

She claimed that "despite the central withholding dues, development and employment in the state has not been stopped. Rather, the amount of employment that has been created in Bengal in the last few years has not happened elsewhere."

"Those who say nothing happens in industrial conferences...let's say that projects worth Rs 15 lakh crore have come from six industrial conferences. Of this, Rs 10 lakh crore has already been spent. The seventh industrial conference was held tomorrow. I have had incredible success. More than 3,76,288 crore investment proposals have come", said Mamata. 

In her counter attack she was quoted saying, "If there was nothing left in Bengal, would 40 countries have come here? Everyone is saying that Bengal is the destination. Many people go abroad from here to work, there is no need to go."

During her speech, Mamata Banerjee acknowledged that mistakes happen in governance but asserted that those who have applied for welfare schemes under the Chief Minister will see their work processed on average. She urged TMC workers to engage in political retaliation against the BJP and CPI(M), encouraging them to defeat opponents at the grassroots level and not solely rely on the police, emphasizing the importance of local connections.

Further, while taking a dig at BJP she said the Indian cricket team won all their matches in the World Cup except the final, which she claimed was attended by "sinners".

"If the World Cup final had been held in Kolkata, we would have won", she said.