The Trinamool Congress has decided to adopt a two-pronged strategy against the Union government on the issue of pending dues to West Bengal under different schemes sponsored by the Centre.
While the first part of the strategy will be of administrative pressure, the second will be that of a political movement deamdning the release of the pending dues under schemes like 100-day job and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) .
A senior cabinet member said that once the boards for all the newly-elected panchayat bodies will calculate the district-wise breakup of the pending dues, a letter will be sent to the Union Ministry of Rural Development for clearance.
“This periodic reminder to the Union Ministry will continue until all the legitimate central dues to the state government are not cleared. It is high time that the Centre and BJP understand that a major reason for their disaster in the recently concluded state panchayat poll was the Union government’s decision to hold back funds under the scheme,” the cabinet member said.
According to party insiders, the political part of the strategy will be to conduct agitation programmes, including a mass rally in New Delhi.
Recently, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had announced that he will organise a gathering of some 10 lakhs people from Bengal to protest in Delhi.
He also hinted at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s presence at the protest rally.
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