'Modi's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' is a flop,' says Mamata Banerjee comparing it to West Bengal's 'Kanyashree' scheme

In yet another attack on the schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his tenure, Trinamool supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' is a flop whereas the Kanyashree scheme for girls introduced by her won a UN award.

Speaking at an election rally in the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, Mamata Banerjee highlighted that the West Bengal government has won the United Nations Public Service Award for its Kanyashree programme, introduced in 2012 to aid the girl child in education and her wellbeing.

"Modi's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' has not been able to provide any real help to the girl child and is a flop."

MUST WATCH: 'When P Chidambaram Writes, The Devil Is In The Detail,' Says Arun Jaitley Dissecting The Congress NYAY Scheme

She also countered PM Modi's claim that Banerjee is a 'speed breaker' in the path of West Bengal's development, by mentioning a number of welfare schemes and programmes started by her government.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had termed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a speed-breaker in the way of rapid development in the state. In his election rally in Siliguri, the Prime Minister had said: "She was not interested in eliminating poverty as her brand of politics would then come to an end. I regret the speed with which we worked in other states, we could not achieve in Bengal. In West Bengal, there is a speed-breaker in the way of your development. People here know this speed-breaker as Didi (as Banerjee is affectionately called)," he said.

In response, Mamata Banerjee said, "He is an expiry babu. His govt has expired. You (PM) said in Siliguri that we (Trinamool government) did not do anything for the poor. What have you done in the last 5 years? Don't speak lies everyday."

Banerjee in her rebuttal also accused that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has curtailed funds for many projects such as ICDS and Asha for the welfare of women. She said that the TMC-Gorkha Janmukti Morcha combine has fielded Amar Rai, a son of the soil for the Lok Sabha elections, unlike the BJP which had got an "outsider" as its candidate for the Darjeeling seat, who won and was not seen again in the hills. The BJP has fielded Raju Bista this time instead of SS Ahluwalia, who was elected in 2014 but had earned the ire of the people because of his absence from the hills during the 2017 agitation.

Read: 'Opposition Who Raise Their Voices Are Not Anti-national', Says Mamata Banerjee Agreeing With LK Advani On His Blog Post

(With PTI inputs)