BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday exhorted a section of West Bengal government employees to go for continued cease work and non-cooperation if the Mamata Banerjee dispensation fails to give dearness allowance (DA) at par with the Centre.
Adhikari, also the leader of opposition in the assembly, said the demand by employees of the state government for a DA hike to match what central government staffers get is “justified”.
Speaking at a rally organised by the 'Sangrami Joutho Mancha' (Joint Forum for Struggle) in downtown area of the metropolis here, Adhikari said, “This is a fight for existence”.
He claimed that the time has come to unseat the TMC from power in the state for running a government which has become “financially moribund”.
State government employees held a peaceful protest march, which originated from Hazra, not far from the residence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and traversed the road where her nephew Abhishek Banerjee resides.
The procession culminated at a point where the agitation by a section of government employees was started 100 days ago.
"This protest march has exposed the moribund financial condition of the state. This is a fight for the existence of government employees and I urge you all to go for continued ceasework and non-cooperation with the government non-violently.
“It is time to uproot the government and we will. I will be with you all as the leader of opposition,” he said.
The present difference in DA rates between the West Bengal government and the Centre is 36 per cent.
Sharing the dais, former Trinamool Congress MLA Sonali Guha mentioned that “the chief minister had once said when her party was in opposition that if the erstwhile Left Front government in West Bengal failed to give DA at par with the Centre, then it should go”.
"Now I am saying that if the present government fails to give DA at par with the Centre, it should also go", Guha, who was also the deputy Speaker in the assembly, said.
Thousands of state government employees participated in the protest march which was allowed by the Calcutta High Court and huge security arrangements were made along the route to prevent any untoward incident.
A section of the protesters symbolically shouldered a corpse, depicting the dire financial straits of the state government.
Guha left the Trinamool Congress after being denied a Trinamool Congress ticket in the 2021 assembly polls and joined the saffron party.
But later she made an effort to return to the Trinamool Congress but could not succeed.
"Now I am sharing this dais and my leader is Suvendu Adhikari,” she added.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
