TMC MP Mahua Moitra calls Union minister a 'liar'
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra accused Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti of lying about an appointment with the TMC delegation and said that the protests against the Centre would continue. "It wasn't possible...to enter the Krishi Bhavan without an appointment. There were 40 of us. We waited, but she refused to meet," Moitra said. The TMC has been protesting against the alleged withholding of West Bengal's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) dues by the Centre.
Why does this story matter?
The TMC has held demonstrations in both Delhi and Kolkata over the alleged denial of MGNREGA funds to the Bengal government. On October 2, TMC leaders staged a dharna at Rajghat in New Delhi. Just a day later, Moitra, along with party General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and senior leader Derek O'Brien, marched to Krishi Bhawan, where they claimed to be "manhandled" by police. Meanwhile, the Centre has reasoned that MGNREGA funds were not released due to non-compliance with its directives.
Moitra accuses Jyoti of absconding
Earlier, Moitra claimed that the union minister made a TMC delegation wait for three hours before leaving through a back door to avoid meeting them. In response, Jyoti said that she waited for over two hours for the TMC leaders in her office, but nobody showed up. The TMC MP also criticized Jyoti for refusing to meet the victims' families and calling them "janata" (public), questioning her accountability to the people who voted for her.
We will fight for Bengal's MGNREGA dues: Moitra
TMC leaders willing to forgo salaries to pay MGNREGA workers
Banerjee called the alleged manhandling of TMC MPs by the Delhi Police at Krishi Bhawan a "black day for Indian democracy." He stated that TMC party members are willing to forgo their wages in order to compensate MGNREGA workers. They assured that these payments will be processed within two months, regardless of whether or not the Center pays its outstanding dues.
TMC stages protest outside governor's residence in Kolkata
On Thursday, TMC leaders, led by Banerjee, marched to the official residence of West Bengal Governor CV Ananada Bose. However, Bose was found to have already flown off to visit flood-hit areas of North Bengal. The Bengal governor's suggestion of meeting the TMC leaders in North Bengal only triggered criticism from the party, which called it reflective of a "zamindari" (feudal mindset). Banerjee has announced an indefinite sit-in outside Raj Bhavan (the governor's official residence) in Kolkata.
