Rahul Gandhi Echos Mamata Banerjee, Demands Release Of Central Funds For Bengal

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over stalling of the release of funds to the state of West Bengal, highlighting the “distress” of families whose survival depend on the Mahatma Gandhi national Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme. “I believe that we have a duty to rise above our political differences to uphold social, political and economic justice”, wrote Rahul Gandhi in his letter dated February 10, 2024. This comes at a time when the political differences between Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress and Congress have come out in open with the TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee publicly casting aspersions if “Congress will even win 40 seats” in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Mamata Banerjee has openly stated her decision to go solo in Bengal in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, making a departure from a united fight against the BJP under the INDIA alliance, something for which Trinamool Congress has squarely held Congress and it’s Bengal state president Adhir Ranjan Choudhury responsible.

Congress, however has maintained that Mamata Banerjee is an important part of the alliance and such difference in opinion will not fracture their united fight. Stalling of the central funds had been a major flash point between the state government of Mamata Banerjee and the Central government, with the former alleging that poor people have been subjected to “vendetta politics” by BJP. Mamata Banerjee, earlier this month had held  a two days long protest demonstration in Kolkata on February 2 and 3, demanding the immediate release of funds that have been held up over allegations of corruption. Rahul Gandhi’s letter to the PM, first from another opposition leader demanding early release of MNREGA funds for Bengal, comes as a support for the prolonged fight of TMC against the Central government, signaling an outreach to Mamata Banerjee for negotiations and reconciliation.

“Lakhs of our brothers and sisters have been denied work and wages under MNREGS due to the stoppage of central funds to West Bengal since March 2022. I was informed that many workers have not been paid for work completed in 2021 due to shortfall in funds. Moreover there has been a drastic decline in the number of hours availing work from 75 lakh in 2021-22 to under 8000 households in 2023-24. This massive scale down has been brutal on the most vulnerable- women and SC and ST households. The lack of MNREGS work and pending wages have forced many to make hard choices- distressed migration” wrote the Wayanad MP in his letter on his official Member of parliament letterhead.

INDIA alliance formed in June 2023 was touted as the united front of opposition parties to fight against the BJP in Lok Sabha elections but seat sharing issue had remained the most contentious and most inconclusive. TMC claimed that the seat sharing mechanism had never concluded with the Congress and Mamata Banerjee, particularly had taken offence to the fact that Congress had aligned with the Left, like what they did in the past elections since 2016 for Bengal. TMC claimed while they had offered two seats to the grand old party in Bengal but they had asked for more leading to breakdown in talks. Like Bengal, in Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party has decided to go solo without the congress, giving scope for BJP to question if INDIA alliance is disintegrating. Rahul Gandhi is on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and had spent five days in two instalments in Bengal but neither Mamata Banerjee or her party joined the Yatra not there happened any meeting between Gandhi and Banerjee amidst the soured ties, that otherwise would have indicated a possibility of revival of terms between the two parties. Mamata Banerjee on the other hand maintained that she was never formally invited to join the Yatra, contrary to what congress has claimed so far.