Abhishek Banerjee on Friday announced his decision to stay put in front of Raj Bhavan till governor C.V. Ananda Bose returned to meet a 30-member delegation of the Trinamul Congress led by him.
The Trinamul national general secretary had launched his “indefinite” sit-in demonstration on Thursday.
In an address to the gathering from the dharna dais in the evening, Abhishek said Bose had emailed the party and asked for a delegation to meet him at 5.30pm in Darjeeling on Saturday. Bose is currently in Delhi, where he went from north Bengal on Thursday.
“Because we, as people of Bengal, always believe in courtesy, and he is the governor of this state... we will send two-three people there,” said Abhishek, picking Serampore MP Kalyan Banerjee, Krishnagar MP Mahua Moitra, and rural development minister Pradip Mazumdar to represent the party.
“They will go tell him that the real delegation sits in Calcutta — led by me — to meet him, with 50 lakh letters from the masses who remain deprived of funds due under central schemes. He has to come meet us, face me,” added Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and heir-apparent. “You can stay in Darjeeling or Delhi or wherever else you please…. I will stay put here till you return and give me time.”
Questioning Bose’s motive in going to and from Delhi over the past couple of days, giving Calcutta a miss after the Tuesday night announcement by Abhishek of his party’s march to Raj Bhavan, the 35-year-old leader said he was willing to sacrifice his festival to get the people their rights.
“If you (Bose) think you will return after Puja, I will stay put here through the festival. Take your time, no problem,” he said, to loud cheers from an audience of thousands.
“I am willing to wait here for days, weeks, months,” added the Diamond Harbour MP, underscoring Bose’s position as a nominee, distinguishing it from that of his aunt, who occupies her position as a resoundingly elected chief minister on her third consecutive term.
A section of Trinamul leaders said Abhishek’s refusal to take the foot of the pedal in this movement, demanding the release of frozen central dues to the state, assumes significance in the run-up to the general election next year, as the young Number Two of the party has been flying solo on account of the forced absence of their supreme leader on medical grounds.
Abhishek said he would not withdraw the agitation till he gets a clarification from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which Bose has to get for him, on two counts: whether 20 lakh workers from Bengal (with wages of several months pending) did work under the MGNREGS; if yes, then which law of the land allows the BJP-led Centre them to freeze the funds for over two years.
“The day I get this clarification, I will withdraw the agitation…. We want the governor to write to Modi, seek the clarification, get it, and hand it over to us,” said Abhishek.
“If before Puja, the clarification does not arrive, I will not take part in the festival, and continue with the agitation,” he added to thunderous applause from the audience.
On Thursday, Abhishek launched the sit-in demonstration after a three-hour protest outside the gubernatorial residence, which followed a 90-minute march of thousands that he led from Rabindra Sadan.
These activities were in reaction to a 40-member delegation being allegedly assaulted and manhandled by Delhi Police at the Krishi Bhavan in Delhi on Tuesday night, after being denied a scheduled meeting with junior Union rural development minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.
