Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition, on Thursday said BJP lawmakers would not participate in an all-party team to be formed by the Assembly to lobby with the Centre for funds for irrigation and flood control projects.

Adhikari’s announcement came a day after Trinamul general secretary Abhishek Banerjee rolled out data on how the Union government is depriving Bengal of its legitimate dues.

“We won’t be part of this delegation since we believe the government is trying to misuse BJP MLAs to send a message to our workers (that BJP lawmakers have been managed),” Adhikari told journalists in Calcutta.

A resolution to set up the committee was unanimously passed in the Assembly on November 29. BJP MLAs had welcomed the resolution in the House in Adhikari’s absence.

The Nandigram MLA was also vocal in demanding that the Centre should freeze funds to Bengal under various schemes over alleged panchayat-level corruption.

After the Centre released PMAY funds despite Bengal BJP’s objections, Adhikari and state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar went to meet Union panchayati raj minister Giriraj Singh in Delhi on Tuesday with new complaints, which prompted many to ask if the BJP was against Bengal’s development.

On Wednesday, Abhishek took to Twitter and shared official data on how much funds the Centre owes Bengal under MGNREGS.

Data based on a reply by Union minister of state for rural development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti to a query by Abhishek says that the Centre owes Rs 2,685 crore as material component and Rs 2,748 crore as wage component to Bengal between 2021 and 2023.