TMC general secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha MP, Abhishek Banerjee, accused the Centre of trying to intimidate protesters who had gathered in the national capital to press for the release of pending funds.
Banerjee, along with TMC lawmakers, state ministers and supporters including MGNREGA workers, protested at Jantar Mantar here. They also held a two-hour dharna at the Rajghat on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary before being evicted by the police.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee holds protest at Rajghat, says Centre withholding Bengal’s MGNREGA fund
TMC leaders met with minister of state for rural development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti as Giriraj Singh was not in Delhi, after their Dharna at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday. They put forward the demand of the pending dues worth Rs 15,000 crores.
“Yesterday, they sent around 5,000 to 10,000 police personnel, RAF and other forces to stop 50 leaders of the TMC. Today as well the number of security personnel here makes it appear as if India-China war is going on here,” said Banerjee, flanked by party leaders holding placards on the stage.
Abhishek Banerjee also mentioned Manipur saying while violence continues in the north-eastern state, the Centre is focused on stopping protesters. He accused the central government of trying to threaten the protesters. Despite all its efforts, the Centre could not stop the TMC from holding protests here,” he added.
The ruling TMC in Bengal has accused the BJP-led NDA government of withholding Rs 15,000 crore in dues to the state under the MGNREGA and PM Awas Yojana.
Lok Sabha MP from Krishnanagar Mahua Moitra alleged the Centre is collecting taxes from West Bengal, but not giving the state’s dues. “We have not come here to beg but for our rights. Mamata Banerjee is fighting not only for Bengal, but for the people of the entire country,” she said.
Mahua Moitra further alleged, “All those people who are close to BJP and Modi ji, don’t work as labourers. It is the poor people who have worked and are not getting paid. Eleven lakh people who deserve to get homes under Awas Yojna are not getting money”.
Demanding the release of funds by the Centre, West Bengal minister for rural development Pradip Mazumdar said that Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh, in a meeting with him on November 7, 2022, had assured that the funds would be released.
“There is no difference between the poor people of Begusarai (Giriraj Singh’s constituency) and Bengal,” Mazumdar said. “They have not released the rightful funds even after our repeated attempts. The people who withheld our funds even after promising to release them have made false promises in 2019,” he added.
On Monday, at a press conference held in Begusarai, Giriraj Singh alleged that the Center’s money was “siphoned off” by the state government. The minister said over 25 lakh job cards have been deleted in the state and added that the Centre was contemplating ordering a CBI probe.
Watch TMC leader Mahua Moitra physically removed from Krishi Bhawan by women cops, video goes viral