Come Saturday, Delhi the battleground: TMC brings a trainload of protesters to take on Centre

The TMC leadership has already booked an entire train to carry the protesters to Delhi for their dharna, which they are calling “Delhi Chalo”, echoing the call given by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to his Indian National Army (INA). By Friday, the party also hopes to gather 3,000-4,000 “deprived” MGNREGA beneficiaries from across the state at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, before the train leaves Howrah Station.

A party official said they haven’t contacted any INDIA bloc partners to support their programme, and that they will manage the logistics of the protest in Delhi on their own.

A recalibration

Earlier, it was announced that the TMC would take all the leaders and workers of the party to surround Krishi Bhavan in Delhi, in a cavalcade that would run into tens of thousands of protesters. Eventually, though, the party zeroed down to only MPs, MLAs, district and panchayat samiti presidents, and beneficiaries, saying the police hadn’t granted them necessary permissions.

The call for the Delhi campaign was first given by TMC No. 2 and party national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, from the stage of the TMC’s Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata on July 21. He also declared that he would lead the party workers to Delhi at their own expense.

Thereafter, Mamata Banerjee has been repeating that the Centre owes the state “around Rs 1.15 lakh crore” under several Central project headings, including MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). While short on specifics of this, the TMC alleges that the Centre is blocking the funds in retaliation for the BJP’s serial losses in elections in the state.

The scale of ‘deprivation’

The Centre stopped disbursing MGNREGA money to West Bengal in November 2021, citing misuse of funds. Earlier this year, the Centre said that spot inspection had revealed discrepancies and irregularities in PMAY, and stopped those funds too.

According to a senior official at the state secretariat, Nabanna, the Centre owes the West Bengal government around Rs 7,000 crore under MGNREGA alone. “Out of the Rs 7,000 crore, Rs 2,900 crore is wages due to labourers. We have repeatedly asked the Centre to release the pending wages at least,” he said.

As part of the TMC protest programme, 50 lakh letters in the names of beneficiaries from across the state — demanding their dues — have been sent from Kolkata via a special truck to offices of the PM and his Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh. The party’s official handle on X posted that the people have written to the PM “asking for the return of their rights”.

Delhi ahoy!

According to party sources, the movement will be launched in Delhi on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, October 2. The still-nebulous site of the protest is described as “the door of PM Narendra Modi”, though it is likely to start from Raj Ghat and move to Jantar Mantar the next day, when the party leadership also hopes to meet Giriraj Singh. Going by Abhishek Banerjee’s latest post on X, though, he may not be able to lead them should that meeting happen on October 3, as he has been summoned by the ED that day.

It is also more or less certain that Mamata is not going to participate in the protest, as doctors have advised her 10 days’ rest after she injured her leg during her 12-day official Spain tour.

On October 1, Abhishek is expected to address an online meeting of the party’s district leadership, where he will share “necessary instructions” on how to convey the message of the Delhi protest to the masses in West Bengal. TMC block presidents have already been instructed to arrange the telecast of the protest on giant screens for two days in front of the BDO office in each block.

A senior leader of TMC said, “We are ready for the mega show in Delhi. We are all embarrassed with the non-stop allegations of corruption against our party members. This mega movement will help shift the focus.”

Opposition response

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said the TMC was already on the backfoot. “A corrupt party can’t carry 10 lakh people to Delhi. We challenged their claim. Now, the TMC is saying only leaders, MLAs, MPs and panchayat pradhans will go. They will basically enjoy a two-day Delhi trip at government expense, and return empty handed.”

BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said, “The TMC is trying to appropriate Netaji’s ‘Delhi Chalo’ call. People who are watching this drama are the best judges. The Central government never said it won’t give money. It only demanded transparency… The TMC may go to Delhi by train, bus or aeroplane, but the people won’t be bothered.”