The central trade unions and Trinamool Congress appear to be headed for a showdown over the nationwide trade union strike call on January 8.
The BJP, against whose economic policies the strike has been called, said it will “wait and watch” to see what action the TMC government takes to curb the strike.
The TMC government in West Bengal has announced that its employees would be barred from availing casual leave or half day leave on Wednesday.
The Left parties have extended support to the trade union strike.
It had also called a seven-day protest from January 1 against the CAA, National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
About 60 organisations of students and elected office-bearers of some universities have also decided to join the strike to raise voice against increased fee structure and commercialization of education.
The workmen staff of the country’s apex bank will join the country-wide trade union strike, sources in RBI’s employees unions said.
Their joining in the strike is expected to add to the disruption in banking services.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said she was in favour of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, but her party will not resort to the “cheap Politics” of bandhs.
Reacting to Banerjee’s remarks, Anandi Sahu, a senior CPI(M) leader and the state general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said that any attempt to foil the strike would be met with resistance.
“There is no difference between the economic policies of the Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee governments and that is why attempts are being made to foil the strike,” he said.
“The TMC is hand in glove with BJP. If they try to oppose the strike, the masses and the working class will resist any such attempts,” Sahu said.
This strike, he said, is not against the policies of the state government but against the policies of the central government.
State Parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said that calling a strike is no way to protest against the policies of the central government as it puts pressure on the economy, which is already in the doldrums.
State BJP President and MP Dilip Ghosh said it is to be seen what action the West Bengal government takes to curtail the strike.
“It is to be seen tomorrow whether the TMC government does what it says or its just tall claims by Mamata Banerjee and her party. The Left parties are on their political deathbed across the country. The strike won’t be a success tomorrow,” he said.
The state government has already notified its employees that no leave will be sanctioned on January 8.
Amid apprehensions of violence during the strike, the state Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday promised an insurance cover of up to ₹6 lakh for vehicles damaged due to violence.
He also said that FIRs will be registered within 24 hours of such incidents taking place.
The West Bengal Transport Corporation will operate 1,150 buses compared to a daily average of 900, while South Bengal State Transport Corporation will run 826 buses as against a normal of 692, Adhikari said.
Ten central trade unions who have called the nationwide strike had said on Monday that around 25 crore people will participate in the nationwide strike against the government’s “anti-people” policies.
Ten trade unions — INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC — besides several sectoral federations and associations had adopted a declaration in September last year to go on the nationwide strike against the “anti-people” policies of the Centre, including the amended Citizenship Act, proposed NRC and updation of NPR.