Mamata Banerjee will take a 10-member delegation of Trinamul Congress MPs to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to press for the release of funds under various central schemes.

The Centre withheld the funds for around two years, alleging anomalies in the execution of the projects in Bengal.

At a meeting with the party’s Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha members, held at Banga Bhavan in Delhi on Monday afternoon, the chief minister carefully decided on the composition of the delegation to ensure the “representation of various communities, castes and creeds for Bengal”.

“The chief minister is very keen on taking a delegation that represents all sections of the society. During the meeting, she discussed the probable composition of the delegation with senior party members and finalised the 10 names,” said a Trinamul MP, who was present at the meeting that went on for about an hour.

Trinamul sources said the delegation would comprise the party’s national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee, leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’ Brien and leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay.

The remaining seven will be Saugata Roy, Sajda Ahmed, Pratima Mondal, Satabdi Roy, Nadimul Haque, Prakash Chik Baraik and Aparupa Poddar.

During the meeting, Mamata asked her MPs to continue protests inside and outside both Houses of Parliament against the anti-people policies of the Centre.

Mamata will be meeting Modi for the fourth time in the last couple of years on the issue of pending central funds for Bengal.

Trinamul has been accusing the Centre of engaging in vendetta politics and withholding funds to the tune of Rs. 1.15 lakh crore. The funds are for the 100-day rural employment scheme, and road and housing projects.

Abhishek’s presence in the delegation assumes significance as he has been leading the movement against the Modi government on the funds freeze.

BJP leaders in Bengal tried to downplay the Modi-Mamata meeting.

“Modiji always gives appointments to any chief minister of any of the Opposition parties. So, there is nothing important with her meeting with Modiji,” said state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar.

The Narendra Modi government pressed the pause button on the release of funds for the 100-day work scheme in December 2021 on charges of discrepancies and malpractice in the utilisation of the cash. The central government also withheld funds under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) because of which construction of 11 lakh rural dwelling units could not be taken up.

The freeze on the central funds, which has brought the 100-day work scheme to a grinding halt, has become a political issue in Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha polls as rural unemployment has been one of the biggest challenges facing the Mamata Banerjee government.

“The Bengal unit of the BJP is trying to create a narrative that the phenomenon of rural unemployment is because of Trinamul’s faulty policies and the government’s failure in attracting investments. Trinamul has to contest this and that’s why the release of funds is very important for the party. Even if they fail to get the money, they have to be seen making all efforts to get the funds to convince the rural population about Trinamul’s commitment across rural Bengal,” said a political scientist, who did not wish to be named.

Over the last few months, both Trinamul and the BJP organised several political programmes revolving around the theme of central funds.

Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, along with 3,500 people deprived of the benefits of the central schemes, hit the streets in Delhi on October 2 and 3 as part of the party’s plan to corner the BJP.

The BJP leaders, on the other hand, have been accusing the Trinamul establishment of depriving lakhs of beneficiaries from central funds by syphoning off money. Union home minister Amit Shah was in Calcutta on November 30 and he rolled out data at a rally to claim that the Modi government did not deprive Bengal and allotted funds few times higher than what the state received during the UPA regime.

Mamata’s decision to take with her 10 MPs to the meeting with Modi is “an interesting development” as the CPM has called the meeting a charade, hinting at a secret understanding between the duo.

“She will be there with 10 MPs... There can’t be anything secret,” said a Trinamul MP.