“Picture abhi baki hai” - TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee warns of intensifying protest if Center does not give an answer by October 31

Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee called off his ‘dharna’ after 5 days of staying put outside Raj Bhavan in Kolkata over the demand for release of Central funds for MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and the PM Awas Yojna. This came after Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose gave an audience to the TMC delegation led by Abhishek Banerjee along with beneficiaries.

 “We placed our demands before the Governor, the demands of the people of Bengal. I told him that 21 lakh 75 thousand families who have worked for two years and have not received their rightful remuneration for it. Why the people of Bengal have not been paid by the Central government?” asked the Trinamool Congress National General Secretary. Abhishek Banerjee stated that he has given the Governor time till October 31 to fetch the people of Bengal a plausible answer for their funds being stopped, however, Governor Bose has said that he will give an answer within 24 hours. If the Governor does not give an answer within the stipulated time frame, Trinamool Congress will hit the streets again, under the leadership of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The West Bengal CM on many occasions has informed the Union Government and the Prime Minister in person and through letters maintained Banerjee, but he alleges that the Center has failed to address this issue. “I am hopeful that the Governor will fetch us an answer, if he does not do so, we will begin our ‘dharna’ again. If the Center refuses to pay these poor and deprived families of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s government will ensure that each and every person is paid from the state funds”, said Banerjee, promising that these dues will be cleared one way or another.

Under the leadership of Abhishek Banerjee, the MPs MLAs, and other leaders, in addition to the deprived and aggrieved people of Bengal, Trinamool Congress took to the National Capital between October 2-3, demanding the disbursal of the MGNREGA funds. On October 2, TMC after offering their respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Delhi’s Rajghat, were protesting donning black bands and placards when they were removed by the police from the Rajghat premises. The following day, October 3, a TMC delegation headed by Abhishek Banerjee had gone to meet Niranjan Sadhvi, however, they were escorted out of her office by the Delhi Police and detained. Abhishek Banerjee brought the protest back to Bengal and sat on a ‘dharna’ in front of Kolkata’s Raj Bhavan asking for the Governor’s intervention. On the 5^th day, the Governor intervened and after meeting with the TMC delegation, he left for Delhi, to fetch an answer to the questions placed before him by the delegation.

“Picture abhi baki hai – this was a mere trailer of the power of the people of Bengal, we will continue with this protest in the coming days demanding an answer from the BJP government,” said Abhishek Banerjee. The further course of their movement will be based on the Central government’s response he stated.

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