Trinamul has decided to up its ante against the Centre for freezing funds to Bengal under the MGNREGS, with party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday announcing a plan to collect one crore signatures from people suffering from the halt in cash flow.

“From April 16, we will start collecting signatures of one crore people. I will go to Delhi with these signatures,” said Abhishek at a public meeting at Baburhat, around 17km from Alipurduar town.

Abhishek instructed his party leaders to collect letters from persons yet to be paid for work done under the 100 days’ job scheme. “This way we will collect one crore signatures and send them to the PMO,” he said.

On March 29, Mamata Banerjee, Trinamul chief and chief minister, started a 31-hour sit-in against the central fund freeze. On April 5, Abhishek led a 23-member delegation of Trinamul MPs to meet the Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh at his office in Delhi, but neither the minister nor his deputy was present. Abhishek alleged Singh didn’t want to meet them.

Bengal is the “only state where Central funds have not been released yet,” Abhishek said on Saturday. “Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme alone, Rs 7,000 crore is due to the state, as a result of which 17 lakh families are suffering for over a year,” he added.

Sources said the Centre sent letters to other states for their plan of action for the 100 days’ job scheme for 2023-24 but not to Bengal.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said he had written to the Union government to stop the theft of central funds by Trinamul leaders.

Adhikari also dared Abhishek to visit Delhi.

“Delhi police is not run by Arvind Kejriwal. It is run by the Union home ministry led by Amit Shah. The sticks Delhi police carry are 6 feet long. Let him (Abhishek) go to Delhi,” Adhikari said.

However, multiple BJP leaders including MLABishnu Prasad Sharma have expressed discontent overthe alleged role of theparty’s Bengal unit in thecentral funds-freeze.

Abhishek also spoke on the BJP’s expansion in the tea belts of north Bengal.

“We had a poor result in Alipurduar district but never stopped development here. The BJP should fight us politically. Many here voted for the BJP but now they have stopped paying you your money,” Abhishek said.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, Trinamul lost all five seats in Alipurduar. In another tea district, Jalpaiguri, it lost two of three seats to the BJP.

Abhishek visited Alipurduar four times in six months. “Two months ago, when I visited Malbazar (in Jalpaiguri), I said wages of tea garden workers would be increased. On April 12, there is a tripartite meeting in Siliguri. Workers can expect good news,” he said. Tea garden workers get Rs 232 a day now.