Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that Bengal would lead the nation and work for the comprehensive welfare of people everywhere in the country, against the backdrop of the Congress’s electoral setbacks in three Hindi heartland states and in the run-up to the fourth meeting of the INDIA coalition.
“Hamara Bengal se hi lead karengey. Hum India-ko lead karengey. Hamara Bengal sey sab desh ko lead karengey (We will lead from our Bengal. We will lead India. From our state, we will show the way to all nations),” Mamata said while speaking at a public service distribution programme at the Kanchenjungha Stadium in Siliguri. “We will accord due respect to everyone. We will work for everyone.”
“What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow,” the Trinamul Congress chief said, citing political leader and social reformer Gopal Krishna Gokhale who had during the Independence movement mentored both Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Mamata’s statement came a week ahead of the next meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in New Delhi on December 19, and nine days after the Congress’s defeat to the BJP in the Assembly elections at Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Mamata said: “What Bengal is doing these days, some others in various parts of the nation are thinking of following it. We will give due respect to people and our continuous effort will be to work for everybody across the country.”
Last week, Mamata had attributed the responsibility of the BJP’s sweep of the three Hindi heartland states to the Congress, refusing to entertain the idea that those results would have a bearing on the general election next year and asserting confidence that a consolidated INDIA, with a proper seat-sharing arrangement, would ensure the saffron regime’s defeat.
On Tuesday, Trinamul insiders said that given Mamata’s seniority and electoral track record, it ought to be natural for the Congress to hand over the leadership reins of the alliance to her and other regional satraps like her, such as DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin, in some sort of collective leadership structure.
“At such a time, Mamata Banerjee deserves to be brought to the fore of the bloc, and framing policies and road maps should be left to her. That she is preeminent in the alliance is evident from the phone call from Rahul Gandhi (on December 4), and the decision to fix the alliance’s meeting during the third week of this month so that she finds it convenient to attend,” a senior Trinamul functionary said.
A Trinamul MP said that prior to December 3, Mamata and her nephew — party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee — had repeatedly expressed displeasure in closed-door interactions at the Congress’s alleged big brotherly approach even in the roundtable negotiations of INDIA.
Sources in the party have said Trinamul’s top brass was not entirely displeased with the outcome in the three states as it would ensure the Congress’s restraint in the INDIA space, with room for the likes of Mamata to push further for the so-called 1:1 formula — having only one INDIA candidate with the highest winnability in at least 330 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress is in a direct fight with the BJP in 200-odd seats.
In her speech on Tuesday, Mamata yet again accused the BJP-led Centre of dirty politics.
“We believe in unnoti (improvement/development) and not rajneeti (politics). They have stopped providing funds under MGNREGA and genuine beneficiaries who have worked have not received their due wages. What have we done? Why have funds for Bengal been held back? They have also stopped providing scholarships for OBCs and minorities,” the chief minister said.
“I am going to Delhi and will meet the Prime Minister. I will keep on highlighting the issue and our struggle will continue unless Bengal’s due share is paid to us,” Mamata added, referring to her scheduled meeting with Narendra Modi on the morning of December 20.
During her visit to north Bengal, Mamata has repeatedly questioned the Centre’s inertia on the release of funds to the tune of Rs 1.15 lakh crore, including over Rs 15,000 crore under the 100-day rural job scheme MGNREGA and the Awas Yojana. The development funds have remained frozen for years. She has even coined the slogan: “Taka din, noytoh bidaay nin (Give us our dues or quit).”
“Some people come here ahead of elections and offer doles. We don’t believe in such politics and work for people round the year. These people made empty promises, resorted to divisive politics for political interests. It is their resentful political conspiracy that affects development,” the chief minister said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Mamata started the release of funds under Krishak Bondhu — a state scheme to provide financial assistance to farmers — and the distribution of bicycles under the Sabooj Sathi scheme to schoolchildren.
“Around Rs 2,806 crore will be transferred to the bank accounts of 1.01 crore farmers. Also, 12.24 lakh students studying in 8,776 (state-run and state-aided) schools will get bicycles this year,” she said.
