Won’t allow any bandh in Bengal on Sept 2: Mamata

The state government is taking all necessary steps to foil the attempt of the Left trade unions to bring West Bengal to a standstill for a day by calling a strike on September 2.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that strike for a day leads to a loss of a few crore. Thus, it would not be tolerated.

It may be mentioned that the Left trade unions have called a strike on September 2, protesting against various issues. “The state government is ready to pay compensation to owner of a shop if it is ransacked by bandh supporters. At the same time stringent action would be taken against the people causing the damage,” said Banerjee.

She also asked the state transport minister Suvendu Adhikari to ensure that all vehicles have insurance coverage. The state transport department will also compensate a vehicle’s owner if it is damaged for plying on the day of the bandh.

The Chief Minister attacked both the Congress and CPI(M) in the same breath on Friday saying that one of the parties was at the Centre for years and another was in the state. 

“Both did nothing to bring an overall development in West Bengal. They are not allowing us to do it smoothly when we are trying to do something. On the day of bandh, CPI(M) supporters will come out and damage buses and shops that leads to a loss of crore of rupees,” she said adding that she also didn’t want workers to suffer or go through any difficulty. But there are other way outs to resolve the issues instead of going for a strike. The issues can be taken up in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha or Vidhan Sabha.

It may be mentioned that before 2011, the people from outside the state or abroad earlier had a perception that there used to be regular bandhs in the state and there was nothing called work culture. But with the change of guard in the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had taken several measures and brought the “menace that people often faced due to bandhs” to an end.