Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday organised demonstrations and burnt effigies of Union Rural Development minister Giriraj Singh across Bengal in protest against the detention of its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Delhi the day before.
The development marks an escalation in the ongoing conflict between the Centre and state government over the release of funds under MGNREGA and other schemes to the state.
The TMC had conducted protests in the national capital on October 2 and 3 when their leaders were detained.
Carrying posters and placards, TMC activists in various parts of the state organised sit-ins and shouted slogans against the Centre. At various places, they also squatted on railway tracks and burnt tyres and effigies of Giriraj Singh.
The party stated: “Peaceful protest rallies are being held across the state on Wednesday against the barbaric attitude of the BJP-led Union government. We were conducting peaceful protests, and our leaders were being assaulted and detained by police. Effigies of Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh were burnt in all the blocks of the state.”
The TMC’s youth wing, in collaboration with the main unit, also organised protest programmes in all the blocks of the state. AITC posted on X: “@BJP4India shows its true colors when voices rise against their corrupt practices and oppression. The harsh treatment that our leaders and deprived beneficiaries faced yesterday reveals their lowly strategies to the nation. Unwavering in our commitment, we won’t let the BJP silence Bengal’s VOICE.”