New Delhi: TMC leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee, were held by Delhi Police late last night, October 4, while protesting for the release of MGNREGA funding at the Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has criticized the Centre and Delhi Police for mistreating party leaders, claiming that the BJP government has gone beyond all limits to silence Bengal's voice. The TMC Chief expressed her displeasure with the ruling party on the social media platform 'X' (previously known as Twitter). Mamata Banerjee also slammed the Centre, claiming that they have shown contempt for Bengalis.
Mamata Banerjee Attacks Centre Over TMC Protest Action
Mamata Banerjee took to 'X' and wrote, "Today is a dark, sinister day for democracy, a day when @BJP4India revealed their contempt for the people of Bengal, disregard for the rights of the poor, and total abandonment of democratic values." First, they withheld vital funding meant for Bengal's underprivileged, and when our team arrived in Delhi, ready to peacefully demonstrate and attract attention to our people's plight, they were met with brutality at Rajghat and later at Krishi Bhavan."
Mamata also referred to the Delhi Police as the BJP's strong arm, accusing them of mistreating TMC workers and leaders for speaking the truth and opposing the powerful. "As the BJP's strong arm, the Delhi Police shamelessly manhandled our representatives, who were forcibly removed and whisked away in police vans like common criminals, all because they dared to speak truth to power." Their vanity and egotism have blinded them, and their arrogance has no bounds. They have now gone to any length to silence Bengal's voice!" On X, Mamta Banerjee stated.
Abhishek Banerjee Declares a 'Black Day For Indian Democracy'
Trinamool Congress (TMC) General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday called the mistreatment of Members of Parliament, including women, who were protesting at Krishi Bhawan for the release of MGNREGA funds a "black day for Indian democracy" and called for a 'Raj Bhavan Abhiyan' campaign in Kolkata on October 5 to condemn the atrocities. The public will respond in the coming months, and those who believe TMC will be stopped by these forces are mistaken. We shall grow stronger. Even the British did not treat us the way Modi Ji and the Delhi Police did today," he remarked.
The Delhi Police apprehended Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O'Brien, and other MPs, including Mahua Moitra, after they staged a dharna inside Krishi Bhawan. The leaders were freed by police on Tuesday and Wednesday intervention nights, over three hours after being held.
Leaders of the TMC demonstrated in New Delhi.
The news came as the tug of war between the Centre and the West Bengal government over the transfer of funding to the state heated up, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) protesting in the national capital for the second day in a row. Banerjee, along with party MPs, state ministers, and supporters, including MGNREGA workers, demonstrated at Jantar Mantar here, a day after they were evicted by police from a two-hour sit-in at the Rajghat on Mahatma Gandhi's birth day.
They thereafter marched to the Rural Development Ministry's Krishi Bhavan, where they met with Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti. However, TMC leaders stated that an hour and a half after arriving at the Bhavan, the MoS declined to meet them, stating that she would not meet more than five representatives. The TMC leaders refused to leave until the MoS met them, despite the fact that they had carried bundles of letters addressed to the prime minister and the rural development minister. A number of TMC leaders, led by Banerjee, sat on a dharna till around 9 p.m., when they were detained by police and ejected from the ministry grounds. The Trinamool Congress stated that the police had confiscated the phones of some of its leaders.
What Is the Purpose of TMC Leaders' Protest?
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress has accused the BJP-led NDA government of failing to pay the state Rs 15,000 crore in dues under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the PM Awas Yojana. The BJP has denied the charge and accused the TMC of staging a "drama" in Delhi to draw attention away from the West Bengal corruption.
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