TMC protests 'withholding' of central funds before Raj Bhavan, criticises Bengal governor's 'zamindari culture'

Trinamool Congress workers led by Abhishek Banerjee marched on Wednesday to protest the alleged withholding of West Bengal's MGNREGA dues by the Centre, to Raj Bhavan, the residence of Bengal’s governor CV Ananada Bose hours after he flew off to visit flood affected areas of North Bengal.

Thousands of party functionaries and its top leadership walked in a colourful rally up to the Raj Bhavan carrying placards bringing traffic to a standstill in the heart of the busy metropolis.

Many of them sat down in a ‘dharna’ in front of the imposing British-era edifice to continue the party’s agitation till late evening.

The march comes days after the party held a two-day protest programme in New Delhi to draw attention to the alleged delayed payment of dues towardsthe MGNREGA programme which guarantees 100 days of work to the poor and for a scheme which helps build houses for poor families.

The party termed the Governor’s absence from the city on a day when the TMC had given notice of its intention to hand over a memorandum to him and his suggestion that a delegation of TMC leaders fly down to meet him in North Bengal, as reflective of a “Zamindari” (feudal mindset).

TMC Parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien said the suggestion was impractical and reiterated the "zamindari culture" against which the party is fighting.

Sources in the Raj Bhavan, however, pointed out that travelling to meet flood-affected poor people was reflective of a “desire to go to the ’zamin’ (soil) and it is in no way a ‘zamindari’ mindset, but rather a desire to connect with the trinamool (grassroots).” The sources claimed that the Governor had given the TMC three alternatives – to meet on another day or to hand over the party’s memorandum to a senior representative of the Governor or else to send a TMC delegation to meet Bose at the Siliguri Circuit House.

"It's unfortunate that the governor didn't feel it was necessary to meet our delegation and look into the grievances of the deprived MGNREGA job card holders. He, being the representative of the Centre, reflects the mindset of the BJP," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

Banerjee along with TMC's MPs and MLAs, state ministers, and supporters, including MGNREGA workers, had protested at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Tuesday, a day after they held a two-hour sit-in at Rajghat on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary before being evicted from there by the police.

They had later taken out a march to the Rural Development Ministry at Krishi Bhawan in the national capital, where they had an appointment with Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.

However, around an hour and a half after going to the Bhawan, TMC leaders claimed that the minister refused to meet them, saying she would not meet more than five representatives.

Lending support to Trinamool Congress' protest march to Raj Bhavan, a pro-TMC platform of academics criticised the Centre for "muzzling" the voice of the people of West Bengal.

Educationists Forum, a body of former vice-chancellors and senior professors of various universities, said the Raj Bhavan has "emerged as an iconic display of impish disruptions, staged by the chancellor in the sector of higher education".

Referring to the confrontation between the governor and the state over the appointment of interim VCs in state-run universities, the forum described Raj Bhavan's action as "illegal".