TMC's Abhishek Banerjee Warns Of Stepping Up Protest If Centre Fails To Clear MGNREGA Dues By Oct 31

Abhishek Banerjee also urged the MGNREGA workers to give the TMC time till June 30 next year and promised to get the rightful dues of the people from the Central government by then.

New Delhi: TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Friday warned of stepping up their protest if West Bengal does not get an appropriate response from the Centre over the MGNREGA dues by October 31. He said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will also take part in the next leg of their agitation.

“We were on the road for five days. On October 9, Governor CV Ananda Bose was forced to meet us. He assured us that within 24 hours, he would talk to the central government over this deprivation of West Bengal. The governor went to Delhi and informed me in an email that he had held discussions with the Centre on the matter. Since we have waited for two years, we can wait for a few more days,” Banerjee said while addressing a meeting in South 24 Parganas’ Bishnupur.

"But if there was no proper response from the Centre on the issue of release of MGNREGA funds within October 31, the TMC will organise a larger movement, in which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will also participate," the senior leader added.

Banerjee also urged the MGNREGA workers to give the TMC time till June 30 next year and promised to get the rightful dues of the people from the Central government by then, news agency ANI reported.

Slamming the Centre for "practising the politics of intimidation, threat and coercion" against TMC, Banerjee further alleged since the saffron party could not defeat TMC in the assembly elections in 2021, it has resorted to the central probe agencies to “gag the voice of Opposition”.

"Despite many attempts, the Narendra Modi government could not make me surrender. The people of West Bengal are witnesses to how the central agencies and media were being used to defame me. But I still walk with my head held high because I was born in West Bengal," PTI quoted Banerjee as saying.

Notably, the Centre had said it has stopped releasing the funds due to “non-compliance” of its directives by the state government.

“Funds of State of West Bengal have been stopped from March 9, 2022, as per provision of Section 27 of MGNREGA 2005, due to non-compliance of directives of the Central Government,” The Union Rural Development Ministry had said in a statement.