Abhishek Banerjee’s ‘dharna’ for stalled central funds enters the 3rd day, dares Governor to meet him in Kolkata or warns that his protest will continue

“If the Governor thinks he will return to Kolkata after Puja, I will stay put here through the Durga Puja festival. Take your time, no problem,” TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee lashed out at the Central Government and Bengal Governor over pending dues of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and PM Awas Yojna and sat on a ‘dharna’ outside the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata till the Governor meets him and the affected victims. The sit-in demonstration, which is a follow-up to the New Delhi showdown has entered its third day on Saturday and Abhishek Banerjee hasn’t left the stage or gone back home. There are other leaders of the Trinamool Congress accompanying him.

“I am willing to wait here for days, weeks, months,” added the Diamond Harbour MP. Lakhs of letters that were initially taken to New Delhi earlier this week have been brought to Kolkata’s Raj Bhavan ‘dharna’ site. Banerjee is insisting that the payments of the legitimate beneficiaries be released at the earliest. He had led a delegation and hundreds of affected people and TMC workers to Delhi and had launched his protest demanding intervention from the Union Minister for Rural Development, Giriraj Singh. On October 2, he had protested at the Rajghat in Delhi but that had witnessed a ruckus after police forcibly removed them, however, the showdown snowballed when on the following day Abhishek Banerjee and other leaders reached the office of Minister of State Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti. They couldn’t meet the MoS and later Delhi police and the central forces forcefully removed them from the minister’s office. Videos indicated leaders including TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Santanu Sen, and Banerjee were allegedly manhandled. They were detained for a few hours and later released by the Delhi Police.

Abhishek Banerjee brought the protest back to Bengal and demanded the letters be handed to the state governor. But Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose is in the Northern part of Bengal to take stock of the flood situation there. Raj Bhavan sources claimed that the Governor has agreed to meet a TMC delegation on Saturday in Darjeeling; however, on Thursday the Governor went to Delhi from Darjeeling but was expected to come back to the hills. A TMC delegation comprising MP Kalyan Banerjee, Mahua Moitra, and state minister Pradip Mazumdar have reached Darjeeling to call on the Governor. In the meantime, Abhishek Banerjee has confirmed his agitation will continue until the Governor meets them outside the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Saturday held a press conference in Kolkata and dismissed the allegations of TMC that she had avoided meeting them at her office. She claimed that the Centre has never deprived West Bengal of its MGNREGA dues and alleged that there have been discrepancies in the utilization of MGNREGA funds in Bengal. "They are now leveling false allegations that I ran away through the back door. The TMC is spreading lies, they did not want to meet me, they just wanted to create drama," she claimed.

Abhishek Banerjee upping the ante has also launched another campaign from the protest site. TMC has now released the phone numbers of BJP Bengal President and MP Dr Sukanta Majumdar who had once claimed that if people call him, he would help them get their dues. “Sukanta Mazumdar should help people if he is so powerful. He should release the funds of the beneficiaries. Anything that can help poor people get some relief, we will do. The phone numbers are released and 20 lakh affected people should call him and insist on their money. But I urge everyone to maintain decorum and uphold the culture and values of Bengal while calling him. No one should abuse him”, Abhishek Banerjee urged the people and supporters camping alongside him outside the Raj Bhavan for the third consecutive day.