TMC to organise meet in Delhi to press for demand to clear dues: Abhishek

Senior Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday said the party will organise a sit-in in New Delhi to press for the demand to clear financial dues of the state.

Addressing a panchayat election rally in Nadia district, Banerjee, the TMC national general secretary, said the BJP government has stopped giving funds under the MGNREGA scheme which has 11.36 lakh beneficiaries in the state.

"The BJP-led Centre has halted funds under Awas Yojana and 100-day work scheme. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request him to release the funds. Following this, the TMC MPs met Union Minister Giriraj Singh to request the same, but nothing moved forward," he said.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) aims to enhance the livelihood security of households in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year.

Banerjee said the only way left was to go to Delhi and fight for the rights of the state's poor people.

"We will go to Delhi and stage a sit-in in front of the Krishi Bhavan demanding justice for our people," he said.

The two-time TMC MP said the Bengal BJP leaders are writing to the "Centre requesting it to hold the state funds" instead of advocating to release the dues.

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had conducted a two-day sit-in in March against the Centre for "not releasing" funds to the state for MGNREGA and other welfare schemes.

Banerjee, addressing the rally in Matua dominated Krishnaganj area in Nadia district, said the BJP is misleading the masses in the name of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"The BJP government said they will implement CAA for the Matua community. However, even after four years of passing the CAA in Parliament, the rules are yet to be framed. Framing the rules of a bill takes only 15 days or maybe a month, but there is no development even after 42 months," he said.

Banerjee said the Matuas are very much citizens of this country and wondered if they are not, then how come they can vote to elect Prime Minister and Chief Minister during Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

"If people are labelled as illegal, then the Prime Minister and Home Minister's election is illegal too. They need to resign from their posts as well. The BJP is continuously misleading people," he said.

While reaching out to the electorally important Matua community, Banerjee asserted that the people from the community have the same rights as other citizens.

"Nobody can deprive the Matua community of their rights as long as Mamata Banerjee and TMC are here in Bengal. Do the Matuas not have Aadhaar cards, PAN cards or ration cards? Then why do they need to prove their citizenship to the Prime Minister?" he questioned.

Matuas, who comprise a large chunk of the state's Scheduled Caste population, had been migrating to West Bengal from Bangladesh since the 1950s, ostensibly due to religious persecution.