Trinamool MPs to be vocal in parliament on Bengal's 'just dues'

Trinamool Congress parliamentarians will be vocal about what the party calls "deprivation of West Bengal" by the former Congress-led government and will claim the state's "just dues" in the coming days in parliament.

Party sources said the Trinamool parliamentarians would repeatedly focus on the "economic deprivation" of the state by the Centre, dwelling on the Congress-led UPA regime's refusal to provide a bailout package to the debt-stressed state.

Facing a severe fund crunch, the Mamata Banerjee government earlier placed a proposal before the 14th Finance Commission demanding Rs.2,55,000 crore for five years (2015-20) besides rescheduling the 10-year State Development Loan (SDL) to a longer period of 15 to 20 years with a three-year interest moratorium. However, the Congress-led regime had not acceded to the demand.

With the Narendra Modi government now in the saddle, the 46 Trinamool MPs would again raise the issue in both houses of parliament.

The Trinamool won an impressive 34 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the recent elections to emerge as the fourth largest party in the house. It also has 12 Rajya Sabha members.

"The loans were mainly taken during the Left Front regime. When we came to power, the state was reeling under a debt of Rs.2.03 lakh crore," said the sources.

The parliamentarians have been instructed by the party leadership to raise issues concerning the common man in a big way, the sources said.

The lawmakers would also call on Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu demanding a room for its parliamentary party.