TMC to embark on 1-crore-letter campaign to target Centre over funds

The ruling TMC in West Bengal has come out with an ambitious new campaign to corner the BJP-led government at the Centre over unpaid funds.

Addressing a public meeting at Alipurduar in West Bengal on Saturday, TMC general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee, said, “One crore letters from the people of Bengal will be sent to the Prime Minister demanding our share of funds. I will take all these letters to the Central government in Delhi. We will then see if the Centre can stop us from entering with letters from one crore people of Bengal.”

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He announced that the TMC will embark on a campaign to collect signatures and submit letters to the PM and the rural development minister to press for the release of funds due to Bengal under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme that guarantees 100 days of rural employment. “Booth-level leaders of the Trinamool Congress will collect these letters and they will be taken to Delhi along with beneficiaries who have not been paid their dues,” said Banerjee in Alipurduar, a region where the BJP has done well in 2019 Lok Sabha elections and 2021 assembly elections.

“From the Bengali New Year, Poila Boisakh, we will take this campaign to every booth. For one month we will collect signatures, after which we will proceed to Delhi with 50,000 people and one crore letters. We will submit one crore letters to the PMO and the office of the rural development minister. If they have the courage, let them ignore it,” he said.

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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also staged a two-day dharna in Kolkata a few days back over pending dues to Bengal. The BJP argues that funds are being withheld as the TMC government is mired in corruption and hasn’t been able to furnish details of expenditure.

The BJP termed the TMC’s allegations as misleading. BJP MP and state BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said, “The Union government has given more money to West Bengal as compared to the previous UPA regime. In some cases, it’s a five-fold increase and in some cases, it is a 10-fold increase. They are levelling false charges against the Modi government.”