Priya Aditi
On Gandhi Jayanti, TMC workers congregated at the Rajghat in Delhi and staged a protest against the central government, alleging inadequate funding for MGNREGA and other social security programs in West Bengal.
On Tuesday, TMC employees are expected to demonstrate against the central government for allegedly failing to disburse funds to the state for MGNREGA, AWAS Yojana, and other central government initiatives.
The TMC alleged that several attempts were made to thwart the protest by denying permissions and canceling trains and flights that were en route to the nation’s capital. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee shared that the permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar was given verbally and written permission was still pending.
Previously, he had asserted, “Section 144 has been imposed in that area (Jantar Mantar).”
Mr. Banerjee was subpoenaed by the ED on October 3, the day the protest was scheduled to take place in Delhi, in relation to the ongoing investigation into the cash-for-school-job scandal.
Susmita Dev, a leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and a member of the Rajya Sabha, criticized the central government for refusing to provide special trains for MGNREGA job cardholders from West Bengal to reach Delhi and declared that they were prepared to fight.
Ahead of the TMC protest in Delhi, party leader Susmita Dev stated, “BJP has effectively declared war on the people of Bengal, who are planning to come to Delhi on October 2 and 3 to protest for their dues from the Union government.” First, the ED was used to subpoena National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Now, because he is determined to travel to Delhi, they have refused to provide Bengalis with special trains to Delhi…The people of Bengal have accepted this challenge by boarding buses and traveling by road, which will take a very long time, but they are prepared for battle.”
Susmita Dev added that a significant number of Bengali public officials had booked flights to Delhi.
She said, “A reputable airline like Vistara, on which 120 people were scheduled to travel to Delhi to join the protest, has now canceled the entire flight on which TMC leaders were to arrive.” It is evident that the BJP recognizes it is unprecedented for Bengalis to travel to Delhi to protest the federal government. They will not let it succeed but you can see on social media that thousands of people are arriving on buses. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, people will reach Delhi regardless.”
Several buses organized by Trinamool Congress (TMC) transported thousands of MGNREGA job cardholders from West Bengal to the national capital.
Also read this:‘Cong played vote-bank politics’: PM Modi on Kanhaiya’s beheading in Udaipur
Under the banner ‘Dilli Cholo: A fight for our rights!’, the demonstrators intended to demand payment of arrears for 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee program.
