Jitendra Tiwari, Trinamul Congress MLA from Pandaveswar and chairman of the board of administrators at the Asansol Municipal Corporation, has fired off a letter to Bengal urban development minister Firhad Hakim, saying the city lost out on central funds because of the state government’s refusal to be part of the Smart City Mission for “political reasons”.

The letter from Tiwari is an embarrassment for the Mamata Banerjee dispensation at a time the Union government is accusing Nabanna of denying people of Bengal the benefits of central schemes like Ayushman Bharat, a health insurance scheme.

“I am grieved to state that our city was chosen by the ministry of Urban Development, Government of India under the Smart City Mission Project which if would have been allowed by you our city could have received funds amounting Rs 2,000 crore… But due to political reasons we were not allowed to get the benefits of this project by the State Government,” Tiwari wrote.

He also mentioned in his letter that Asansol could have received another Rs 1,500 crore under the Centre’s solid waste management project had the urban development department allowed.

The letter has left the ruling establishment in the state in an uncomfortable situation as Tiwari has raised questions about the policies of his party’s government.

Several Trinamul insiders said the letter would help the BJP launch another round of offensive against the state government.

“The BJP has been asking why the state did not join central schemes like Ayushman Bharat and PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana... Now, if a Trinamul MLA raises similar questions, it is definitely uncomfortable for the party,” a Trinamul insider said.

In 2016, the chief minister had announced that Bengal would not join the Centre’s Smart City Project, saying the state had to pay more for the project and it only focused on a particular city or area.

Firhad Hakim File picture

“We will develop all cities and towns as smart cities,” the chief minister had announced then.

Minister Hakim said in Calcutta on Monday that he had spoken to Tiwari on various issues over the past few months but he had never talked about the Smart City Mission.

“Government’s policy is framed in the Assembly and he is a part of it. I guess some people are misleading him. The chief minister said that her focus was to develop all towns as smart cities and we are working on it,” said Hakim.

The ruling party has got into a damage control exercise as Hakim is set to hold a meeting with Tiwari in Calcutta on Tuesday where poll strategist Prasant Kishore is also likely to be present.

BJP’s Asansol MP and junior Union minister, Babul Supriyo, said: “I may have political differences with Tiwari but I must say thank you to him for gathering courage to bring out the fact in public.”