TMC pulls up BJP in tea belt : Saffron camp starts dharnas in response

Minister Moloy Ghatak speaks at a demonstration of Trinamul Cha Bagan Shramik Union in Matigara: Picture by Passang Yolmo

Bireswar Banerjee   |   TT  |  Siliguri   |    06.03.23  : Trinamul leaders on Sunday reminded BJP leaders of their unfulfilled election promises for tea workers of north Bengal a year ahead Lok Sabha election.

The Trinamul leadership has also urged the BJP MPs to seek answers on the “failed promises” of their government in Parliament.

There are three MPs from the tea belt of north Bengal — Raju Bista (Darjeeling), John Barla (Alipurduar) and Jayanta Kumar Roy (Jalpaiguri). All are from the BJP.

“The BJP had promised that the Centre would allocate Rs 1,000 crores for the benefit of the tea workers and tea industries in north Bengal. I would like to appeal to the BJP MPs of the region that there is still one year left for the present government in the Centre and they should now seek answers,” Bengal labour minister Moloy Ghatak said during a demonstration in Siliguri on Sunday.

The minister was speaking at a daylong demonstration of Trinamul Cha Bagan Shramik Union, organised by INTTUC’s Darjeeling district committee (plains) in front of Bista’s office at Matigara, Siliguri, on Sunday. 

On Saturday, Trinamul Cha Bagan Shramik Union representatives held a similar demonstration in front of the houses of four MLAs and BJP MP of Alipurduar John Barla in the Dooars.

Apart from the disbursal of Rs 1,000 crore, the other major demand raised by Trinamul is with regard to tea workers being deprived of provident fund. Most are yet to get their Aadhaar cards linked with PF accounts.

“Aadhaar and PF are subjects of the Centre. But the MPs (of the BJP) elected from the region after getting votes from tea workers have not done anything for them,” the labour minister alleged. 

The BJP has been sweeping elections in the tea belt since 2019. The tea belt population decides the results of around 14 Assembly and three Lok Sabha seats.

However, over the past few months, Trinamul is consistently raising tea worker-related issues in its public meetings and demonstrations.

At the same time, the Trinamul-led state government is also offering various schemes under the housing and healthcare sectors in the tea gardens. 

Bengal minister Ghatak also reminded the saffron leaders of their failure to take over and reopen the seven closed tea gardens of the Dooars, where the Trinamul-ruled state government had to ultimately intervene in the interest of around 20,000 tea workers.

In response to these charges, Raju Bista, the BJP MP from Darjeeling, alleged that Trinamul leaders were making a hue and cry to hide their own failures.

“The Bengal government has no time to implement the minimum wages act and the new labour codes passed by the Parliament. They don’t have time to give praja patta (deeds of land) to (tea) workers, they have no time to ensure fair and equitable wages for workers but their labour minister has time to do dharna in the streets of Siliguri,” said Bista.

However, following Trinamul’s various agitations, BJP workers on Sunday also demonstrated in front of the office of the Jaigaon Development Authority for its alleged inaction to prevent siltation and floods in areas under its ambit.

On Saturday, BJP workers also held demonstrations in front of the houses of the sabhadhipati of Alipurduar zilla parishad at Kumargram and other Trinamul panchayat office bearers of  Falakata, Kalchini and Alipurduar-I panchayat samitis. These protests will go on for a week, said sources.

“The Trinamul campaign seems to have hit a raw nerve in the saffron camp, given the BJP’s counter dharnas,” said a political analyst in the region.