"Protest will continue till state gets MGNREGA dues": TMC MP Mahua Moitra
Oct 06, 2023
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], October 6 : Amid ongoing protests by the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal over the Centre's alleged delay in the allocation of funds under MGNREGA, party MP Mahua Moitra on Friday said the demonstrations will continue till the state gets its 'due'.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the TMC Lok Sabha MP said, "Our protest will continue undeterred till the state gets its due. We launched the protests in Delhi, which are being continued in Bengal. We are waiting for the Governor to return."
Earlier, responding to a post shared by Union minister and BJP leader Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, saying that she waited over 2 hours for a delegation of Trinamool MPs at her office, Moitra on Wednesday accused the former of lying, saying that she made Trinamool MPs, who had arrived to discuss the MGNREGA issue, "wait for 3 hrs and then ran away through back door".
Taking to her official handle on X, Moitra posted, "Sorry @SadhviNiranjan you are lying and so (and I am being polite). You gave our delegation an appointment. You vetted all names, checked each one off before allowing us to enter, made us wait for 3 hours & then ran away via the back door."
However, the Union minister stuck to her claim, terming the Trinamool delegation's alleged failure to show up at the meeting as "shameful".
"Today 2:30 hours was wasted. Today I left the office at 08:30 after waiting for the Trinamool MPs. According to my information, the delegation of Trinamool MPs and Bengal ministers had made an appointment in the office at 06:00. But later he wanted to meet Trinamool workers by calling them public, which was against the office system. He backed away from the scheduled topics of the meeting because his intention was not to meet, his intention was to do politics. This is a very shameful incident done by Trinamool leaders," Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti posted on X.
TMC leaders, led by Lok Sabha MP and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, staged a protest at Rajghat on Monday demanding the release of MGNREGA funds.
A day later, on Tuesday, Abhishek Banerjee alleged that fellow party MPs, including women, were manhandled by Delhi Police at Krishi Bhawan during a sit-in to press for the release of pending MGNREGA allotments.
Condemning the crackdown as a "black day for Indian democracy", Abhishek called for a 'Raj Bhavan Abhiyan', march to the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, on October 5.
"The people will give a befitting reply to them. If they think that our protest could be subdued by such crackdowns, they are wrong. It will only strengthen our resolve. Even the Britishers did not do to us what Modi-ji and the Delhi Police did today," he alleged.