Trinamul leader Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday said the visit of junior Union rural development minister Niranjan Jyoti to Calcutta was a “moral victory” for the people of Bengal, adding that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have to come to the state and release funds and wage dues.

“I am happy that the Union minister of state who dragged and pushed us out of her office using central forces and Delhi police was forced to come to Calcutta to attend a news conference. This is a moral victory for the people of Bengal. Sadhvi Nirajnan Jyoti had to come here within 96 hours of our protest at her office. Wait for a few days and you will find many leaders like Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Bengal. Finally, they will also release Bengal’s dues and the wages of the poor people,” Abhishek told party workers on the third day of the indefinite dharna in front of the north gate of Raj Bhavan.

Several mass organisations have written to Abhishek, the Trinamul national general secretary, extending their support to the fight for central funds.

Intellectuals, political leaders and representatives of cultural organisations, including those close to Trinamul, held a meeting at Mahajati Sadan in Calcutta under the platform Samayer Dak on Saturday and vowed to organise people under one umbrella to ensure that the Narendra Modi government is dislodged in 2024.

Abhishek said Jyoti, the central minister, could have met Trinamul leaders at Raj Bhavan or any other place in Calcutta during her visit. “We have no ego at all. But when reporters today asked her about meeting a Trinamul delegation, she said we would have to go to meet her. It means she was expecting that Trinamul leaders would meet her at the BJP office, where she was. This is the zamindari tradition of the BJP against whichwe are fighting,” Abhishek said.