The Trinamul leadership organised a public meeting exclusively for the tea population of north Bengal on Sunday in Alipurduar district, initiating the campaign planned by the party to revive its support base in tea gardens.

In the past 11 years, that is, ever since Mamata Banerjee was voted to power in the state, this is the first time that such a meeting was held only for residents of tea estates.

According to Trinamul insiders, support of tea gardens of north Bengal has been eluding the party for years now. In the three Assembly elections held since 2011, the party’s performance in the region has been below par compared to other parts of Bengal.

Also, in the Lok Sabha elections, a considerable section of the population backed the saffron camp, which led to the victory of BJP candidates from Alipurduar, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri.

“The Narendra Modi government at the Centre made tall promises to them but has not done anything. Even the BJP MPs elected in 2019 have done little for the tea belt. On the other hand, chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the state government have done a lot for them, like free housing, inclusion in other social welfare schemes and facilitation of regular revision of tea wages. We want to reach out to people in the tea belt and elaborate on the state’s initiatives and the Centre's apathy,” said Alok Chakraborty, a veteran trade union leader and chairman of Darjeeling (plains) district Trinamul committee.

On Sunday, the conference was organised under the banner of INTTUC, Trinamul’s workers’ front, at Alipurduar’s Kalchini, which is in the eastern Dooars,

Around 4,000 workers and residents of different tea gardens of Alipurduar district were present at the meeting.

State ministers Moloy Ghatak and Bulu Chik Baraik — he hails from tea belt — were present at the event along with INTTUC state president Ritabrata Banerjee and district Trinamul leaders.

“Tomorrow (Monday), a similar meeting would be held in Naxalbari (on the outskirts of Siliguri) for the tea population of Terai and two more meetings would be held in Malbazar (western Dooars, under Jalpaiguri district). In due course, our leaders will visit every garden and meet workers and their families to highlight efforts of the state government,” said a Trinamul leader.

The initiative, he said, has been planned as panchayat elections will be held next year and general elections in 2024.

On Sunday’s meeting, Ghatak, the state labour minister, was critical of Citu – CPM’s labour front.

“It is because of Citu’s opposition that we could not fix and implement the minimum wage rate in the tea industry of our state. Also, it is disappointing to see that BJP MPs who got elected from here are least concerned about the tea population,” said the minister.

Back in 2015, the state formed a committee comprising stakeholders of the tea industry and state government officials to recommend a minimum wage rate to the state but none has been made so far.

Ghatak’s remarks prompted Citu leaders to react.

Bidyut Gun, the district president of Citu in Alipurduar, said minimum wage rate has to be fixed under the Minimum Wage Act of 1948.

“No one can obstruct the process as it is carried out according to the law. The minister’s charge is baseless,” he said.