Trinamul Congress Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of resorting to an “economic blockade of Bengal” after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman claimed the Opposition-ruled state had indulged in irregularities in implementation of central schemes.

Sitharaman claimed that Bengal had still not paid Rs 1,841 crore to the central government on account of deployment of central forces in the state and waved newspaper reports about owners of “palatial houses” turning beneficiaries of the PM Awas Yojana.

The finance minister was replying to the general discussion on the budget in the Lok Sabha.

Bandyopadhyay had alleged in the House that the Centre had not released Rs 7,000 crore to Bengal under the rural job scheme NREGA.

As Sitharaman alleged irregularities in the implementation of the job guarantee scheme, Bandyopadhyay intervened and claimed that he, along with 10 other party MPs, had met rural development minister Giriraj Singh and subsequently the Bengal minister concerned had held a detailed meeting and “sorted out all issues”.

“Despite all issues being sorted out, the central government is still not releasing Rs 7,000 crore. So our allegation is that you are trying to economically block the state of West Bengal,” Bandyopadhyay told the Lok Sabha amid loud protests from BJP members.

Sitharaman asked Bandyopadhyay to give details of his meeting with Singh, but Speaker Om Birla said discussions with ministers outside the House should not be deliberated.

She also took on the state government over the payment of GST compensation.