Workers from the Trinamool Congress party gathered in Delhi’s Rajghat on Gandhi Jayanti to protest the centre government, alleging a lack of funding for West Bengal’s social security programs like MGNREGA and others. The TMC employees are likely to protest the federal government on Tuesday because they believe the federal government failed to properly distribute funds to the state for the MGNREGA, AWAS Yojana, and other central government programs.
The TMC said that numerous attempts had been made to obstruct the protest by denying requests for authorization and canceling trains and flights that were en route to the national capital. Abhishek Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), revealed that permission was only given verbally and that written authorization was still pending for the protest at Jantar Mantar. He had earlier stated that “Section 144 has been imposed in that area Jantar Mantar”. Banerjee was summoned by the ED on Oober 3, the day it had planned for the demonstration of protest in Delhi, in connection with the ongoing investigation into the cash-for-school job scam.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Susmita Dev hit out at the central government over the refusal to provide special trains to MGNREGA job cardholders from West Bengal to reach Delhi and said that they were ready for the fight. Ahead of the TMC worker’s protest in Delhi, Party leader Susmita Dev said, “BJP has practically declared war on the people of Bengal who want to come to Delhi to protest for their rightful dues from the Union government on October 2 and 3.
First, they summoned National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee through the ED. Now, since he is determined to come to Delhi, they have refused to give special trains for the people of Bengal to reach Delhi…The people of Bengal have met this challenge by getting into buses and coming by road which is going to take them very long but they are ready for the fight.” Susmita Dev further said that many of the public representatives from Bengal had booked a flight to reach Delhi.
She said, “A well-known airline like Vistara where 120 people were due to travel to Delhi to join the protest but now without any explanation Vistara airlines has cancelled that entire flight in which TMC leaders were coming. It is clear that the BJP realises it is unprecedented for the people of Bengal to come to Delhi to protest against the Union government. They will not let it succeed but you can see on social media that thousands of people are coming on buses. People will reach Delhi anyhow under the leadership of CM Mamata Banerjee and General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.”
Thousands of MGNREGA job cardholders from West Bengal had left for the national capital, in several buses arranged by Trinamool Congress (TMC), for the protest. The protesters, under the banner of ‘Dilli Cholo: A fight for our rights!’, intended to raise their voices for the payment of arrears for 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.