Mamata to take agitation on non-payment of Central dues to Delhi

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she will take her agitation over non-payment of Central dues under various Centrally-sponsored schemes to Delhi in the coming days.

Speaking on the second day of her two-day sit-in agitation here on Thursday, Banerjee said she had expected that her two-day agitation would evoke some response from the Central government on this count.

"I waited till Thursday. I thought that at least out of courtesy, I will receive a phone call from the Union government with assurance of payment of the Central dues. But nothing of that sort happened. Now it is time to go to Delhi. If necessary, we will beg and go to the national capital by hiring a train," she said.

The Chief Minister said that she had interacted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier, requesting them to initiate the payment of Central dues to West Bengal.

"But when nothing happened finally, I decided to go for the sit-in agitation. The next agitation will be in Delhi," she said.

Without naming the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, the chief minister said that he is actually taking the main initiative so that the Central dues are not paid to the Bengal government.

"One traitor from the state is going to Delhi and constantly asking the Union government to stop payment of central dues and the Union government is blindly accepting his suggestions," the Chief Minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, she once again launched a scathing attack against the Union government on the alleged misuse of central agencies.

"The central agencies are being sent randomly to the states ruled by the non-BJP parties. But the BJP is forgetting that if they are defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the same central agencies can be directed against them," she said.

On Thursday, the chief minister repeated her allegations that those who secured state government jobs during the previous Left Front regime "illegally" are now agitating in demand for payment of dearness allowance arrears.