Mamata's proposal on Teesta is an attempt of 'malicious deception', says BNP

The alternative proposal by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Teesta water sharing deal is 'nothing but a hoax', and it is 'unacceptable', the BNP has said.

The BNP on Monday came up with the reaction to Mamata’s proposal to share waters of four smaller rivers instead of the Teesta.

"What the West Bengal chief minister said was her own views. It's not rational, but deceiving," BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said at a press conference at the party's Naya Paltan Headquarters.

"And we are not fools. We understand these things. It cannot be accepted," he added.

Mamata raised the proposal at a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to New Delhi on Saturday.

The government has already said it was 'not giving any importance to the proposal'.

The much-hyped Teesta water sharing deal, which was initiated six years ago, could not be signed during the Apr 7-10 visit of Hasina.

New Delhi worked for a solution to the problem, but it failed to reach any agreement with West Bengal. 

Mamata argues that there is no water in the river. She proposed to Hasina that West Bengal could share the water of three to four other rivers, but not the Teesta.

New Delhi said it did not accept her proposal.

BNP leader Rizvi said, "We want fair share of the water that flow from our border through the entire basin of the Teesta river. We want the due water that comes down from the hill. Not a single bucket of water can be withdrawn from here."

He also said the BNP would raise the issue in international fora.

The BNP leader once again criticised the defence deals signed with India during Hasina's visit.

He said the deals aimed to keep the Awami League in power for five more years. "That's why they have made the five-year deal renewable," he said.