More trouble for Mamata as Trinamool's Jitendra Tiwari accuses Bengal govt of denying Centre's project to Asansol

Tiwari, a Trinamool Congress MLA, wrote a letter to West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim saying, "Asansol was chosen under this project as a result of tremendous work effort of Councillors and entire team of AMC leading to being qualified as a city to be chosen under this but due to political reasons we were not allowed to get the benefits of this project by the State Government."

Tiwari further added in the letter that the state government had deprived Asansol from the Solid Waste Management Project of the central government,which is run by the Trinamool's adversary Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Tiwari accused the state government of not approving various project reports submitted by the AMC.

The Trinamool MLA's rebellion will further add to the crisis of the party which is already rattled by the dissents from various heavyweight leaders, with barely a few months to go for the crucial 2021 assembly elections.

Countering Tiwari, Hakim said, "Jitendra Tiwari is likely my brother. If he had anything to say, he could have come to me. These letters have no significance."

When asked whether Tiwari is also looking to jump ship ahead of the polls, the Trinamool veteran said, "If someone wants to leave the party, he can. Mamata Banerjee has already said the doors are open."

Cornering the state government, BJP's Asansol MP Babul Supriyo, who is known to be an adversary of Tiwari, tweeted, "When I said the same & repeated & repeated as to how Asansol has been deprived by Mamata Banerjee, it always sounded like a Political accusation. While we remain fierce political rivals, I am happy Mayor Jitendra Tiwari ji could ultimately garner the courage to spell out the truth."