Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said he will participate in the party’s protest programme — against the Centre’s fund blockade — in New Delhi on October 3, a day after he was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the school jobs scam in Kolkata on the same day.
Without naming anyone, the TMC leader challenged the ED to “stop” him if they could. He asserted that no force on earth could deter him from fighting for Bengal’s rightful dues.
“The fight against the deprivation of WB and its rightful dues shall persist regardless of the obstacles. No force on Earth can hinder my dedication to fight for the people of WB and their fundamental rights. I’ll be in Delhi joining the protest on Oct 2nd & 3rd. STOP ME IF U CAN!” Abhishek posted on X.
Banerjee also snubbed the Centre on Friday after Railways denied a special train to TMC to ferry the protestors to Delhi. He earlier took a dig at the Centre after ED summoned him on the day he is supposed to be leading the protest in the national capital. He said that this reveals the Centre has been “truly perturbED, rattlED and scarED!”.
According to sources, the ruling party in Bengal may plan legal steps against the Central agency as it is “harassing” Banerjee.
TMC is slated to hold a two-day protest in Delhi beginning October 2 against the Narendra Modi government and its decision to block Bengal’s funds and deprive lakhs of people of their rightful dues.
According to officials, Rs 8,141.17 crore is pending under the Awas Yojana scheme whereas nearly Rs 7,000 crore is due under the MGNREGA scheme, of which Rs 2,876.28 crore constitutes the wage component.
Trinamool leaders have criticised the anti-Bengal move to deprive the labourers of their wages, which is against the tenets of the MGNREGA Act. Senior party leaders like Shashi Panja and Chandrima Bhattacharya visited Netaji Indoor Stadium and inspected the arrangements done for the deprived beneficiaries who were supposed to head to Delhi till the railways decided to deny a special train which has now led the party to think of an alternate plan.
Chadrima Bhattacharya said at Netaji Indoor Stadium that the Centre is scared which is why the agency has summoned Banerjee on a day when is supposed to lead a protest in Delhi. “They could have summoned him on any other day. It reveals that they are scared.”
Another TMC leader Shashi Panja said that the protest was being organised in Bengal earlier and now will hit the national capital. “People are not paid their rightful dues. We have seen that it has not touched the PM. He spends a lot of money for central Vista and deprives the people of Bengal.”
TMC MP Derek O Brien, late Friday evening, shared that the office of the Union Panchayat minister Giriraj Singh has informed that the minister will not be available in Delhi on October 3. Derek wrote on his X account: “PM @narendramodi minister running away from meeting full team of TMC MPs and ministers from Bengal because he has no answers to our
Qs. Bengal owed a whopping one lakh crore+ rupees. He informs us last min he can’t meet. TMC Oct 2 & 3 satyagraha in Delhi is ON.”