Kolkata, Oct 7 (UNI) ” Will not partake in Durga Puja festivities if we are not able to restore smile to our people’s faces. Governor must kisten to people’s plight, ” asserted Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
” Yesterday, we announced that until the Governor meets our Trinamool delegation and answers questions pertaining to the release of dues of 20 lakh MGNREGA beneficiaries, wewill continue our peaceful dharna here to fight for Bengal’s rights, ” Banerjee said.
” We got to know through reporters that Raj Bhavan issued a statement saying: Gherao Nahin, Ghar Aao. First of all, I would like to clarify that this is not a gherao, which happens at the gates. There are multiple gates to Raj Bhavan and we have not occupied any of those, ” he added.
” Second, how can I visit his ghar (house) when he is not present? How can someone who is not present at his own home invite me to it? If an invitation is extended, the invitee mustbe present. If I walk to Raj Bhavan, it will take me two minutes. But it would take him four hours to reach, ‘ he stated.
” We received an email this morning that stated that the Governor is busy with his North Bengal visit and inspection of the flood situation. The email further stated that if we wanted to meet him in Siliguri or Kolkata, he would welcome our initiatives. I thought: Der aaye, durust aaye (Better late than never). However, we later got to know that he never returned to Siliguri. ”
” The Governor said that since he was going to Siliguri to inspect the flood situation and would remain there, Trinamool delegation could visit him there. He would stay in Siliguri for a few days and return to Kolkata once the flood situation improved. However, why did he suddenly dash away to Delhi? ” he asked.
” There were no arrangements here yet we spent the night here. If one has the commitment, they can do anything. The Governor could have remained in Siliguri. We want to know if he went to Delhi to seek instructions. If yes, whose instructions were being sought and why? He is Bengal’s Governor and not Delhi’s Governor. This is what we refer to Zamindari culture, ” Banerjee averred.
” Does any reporter know the Governor’s scheduled activities in Delhi as is the norm? Does any reporter know why he went to Delhi? Journalists know everything about our activities but do we know anything about the Governor’s activities in the past 24 hours? The Governor was appointed to work for the people. ” he iterated.
” The Governor did not even condemn the horrific situation of October 3 when elected representatives from Bengal and the people were assaulted in Delhi. I asked our Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien to write back to him. If the Governor is open to it, we can send a delegation. At least, this might convince him to step into Bengal, ” he mentioned.
” We received an email from him that he wishes to meet us at 5.30 pm tomorrow. Out of courtesy and our respect for the post of Governor and Bengal, Trinamool MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Mahua Moitra, and state Panchayat Minister Pradip Mazumdar will visit the Governor tomorrow, ” he maintained.
” However, the Governor must give time to our delegation and me so that we can take these 50 lakh letters from the beneficiaries to him. The delegation includes 10 beneficiaries who have been suffering due to this fund blockade. They want to meet the Governor and talk of their plight. They want to ask the Governor if he has asked the Centre to release Bengal’s due, ” Banerjee commented.
” The three Trinamool leaders will inform the Governor that the delegation is waiting for him in Kolkata. If the Governor can take three flights to and from Delhi, why can’t he come to Kolkata and meet these deprived beneficiaries? ” he further asked.
” The Governor may stay in Darjeeling for two days, weeks, or months. I will not leave this site
till he meets us here and agrees to accept the 50 lakh letters from Bengal. What did the Governor do in Delhi? Maybe he was waiting for the Supreme Court verdict on the appointment of interim vice-chancellors but that too went against him. Today, the apex court put a stop to his practice of appointing interim vice-chancellors across the state, ” he quipped.
” Those who make lakhs of people cry will not be spared. Not even the Zamindars of Delhi who instruct the Governor on his role. Within 24 hours of committing that Bengal would end the Zamindari rule, the Supreme Court verdict set an example of how the Zamindari tradition would come to an end. A government elected by the people will appoint and recruit and not those at a nominated post, ” Banerjee reacted.
” In 2021, an entire battery of central BJP leaders descended in Kolkata. They used central forces and the Election Commission to conduct an election in eight phases during the second wave of Covid causing a direct threat to people’s lives. Yet, Mamata Banerjee won as she had the people’s blessings. Bengal showed the path to the entire country, ” the Diamond Harbour MP said.
” On October 3, we went to meet MoS Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti. Since that incident, she has been giving comments to the press saying she was made to wait and AITC leaders didn’t meet her.
We also kept waiting there for three hours despite being allowed inside the ministry premises, ” he added.
” None of the reporters were allowed inside the ministry. This begs the question, how and why did they allow 40 members of the delegation to enter the Bhavan? ” he questioned.
