Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that the decision on the resumption of her party’s movement to demand the release of central funds due to Bengal, and paused till October 31 by her nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee, would be announced on November 16 at a meeting in Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Mamata, at a news conference at Nabanna, the state secretariat, on Wednesday afternoon, spoke about issuing a statement on the resumption of Trinamul's movement.
“We had said that we would announce our programme on November 1. I hereby make it clear that if the funds for MGNREGS are not released, our protest will be escalated to its most intense phase,” said Mamata.
On October 12, Mamata had attacked the BJP-led Centre over its blocking of funds due to Bengal’s poor under central schemes, and promised a “bigger” protest, before looking to Durga for protection from the “conspiracy to starve” the state.
The Trinamul Congress claims Bengal has central dues amounting to over Rs 1.15 lakh crore, of which around Rs 15,000 crore is on account of the MGNREGS (100-day job) and the Awas Yojana (housing) alone.
“We have a meeting at the Netaji Indoor Stadium with the leadership from every level, including the gram panchayat, panchayat samiti, zilla parishad, civic body, MLAs, MPs… at midday on November 16. In that meeting, we will decide on how to continue the movement, going forward,” said the Trinamul chairperson.
On October 9, Abhishek, the Trinamul national general secretary, had conditionally withdrawn, for the time being, his indefinite sit-in demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan, on the fifth day since launching it, after a meeting with Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose, attributing the decision to advice from Mamata.
The Diamond Harbour MP had given the BJP-led Centre time till October 31 to suitably respond to his demands for the release of funds, failing which he had threatened a wider, more intense agitation that would essentially be a fight-to-the-finish, led by Mamata herself.
“The blueprint for the protest will be prepared in our meeting and announced on November 16. Since we have very many festivals, such as Kali Puja, Diwali, and Bhai Phonta coming up, the meeting will be held after that. Immediately after the meeting, we have Chhath Puja and Jagaddhatri Puja…. We will factor them in,” said Mamata on Wednesday.
The movement was first announced by the aunt-nephew duo in March. Overcoming several obstacles and changes in plans, the protest took place early in October in Delhi and Calcutta, led solely by Abhishek in the absence of Mamata on account of a health issue.
Abhishek had launched the sit-in demonstration outside the gubernatorial residence on October 5, after a 90-minute march of thousands that he led from Rabindra Sadan.
Those activities were in reaction to a 40-member delegation, including him, being allegedly assaulted and manhandled by Delhi Police at the Krishi Bhavan in Delhi on October 3, after being denied a scheduled meeting with junior Union rural development minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti. The delegation was also detained for over 90 minutes from 9.15pm at the New Police Lines at Kingsway Camp.
“Our MPs, MLAs, and ministers visited Delhi after they were granted an appointment by a junior Union minister. However, despite remaining in her office, (she) did not meet the victims of the funds freeze who were part of the delegation. But if BJP leaders visit, they are accorded grand welcomes,” said Mamata on Wednesday.
On October 9, Abhishek led a 30-member delegation — comprising deprived beneficiaries of central schemes, besides senior elected representatives and leaders — to Raj Bhavan to meet governor Bose, praised him for his approach to the negotiations and thanked him for not wasting time and flying out to Delhi within hours, to take up the matter with the Centre.
While pressing the pause button on the movement then, Abhishek said if the protest has to be resumed, it will be led from the front by Mamata.
“She (Mamata) wasn’t even present, and we shook the nine-year Narendra Modi government to the core in just seven days…. They are scared. Their stability is clearly gone. The body language of the BJP leaders is telling,” he had said. “Imagine what will happen when she hits the streets... with one lakh people in Delhi in the next two months…. This was only a trailer. The film remains to be shown.”
