TMC meets Guv in Darjeeling, urges him to meet party delegation in Kolkata

 Avishek accuses Union minister Jyoti of spreading falsehood about meeting with party delegation

PTI, 07 October, 2023, Darjeeling :  A three-member Trinamool Congress delegation called on Governor C V Ananda Bose in Darjeeling on Saturday, where they presented their demands regarding clearance of the state’s financial dues under the MGNREGA scheme from the Centre.

They also requested the Governor to meet with the protestors, led by senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, on an indefinite sit-in near Raj Bhavan since Thursday.

Following the meeting, senior TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee claimed that Bose is convinced of the legitimacy of the state’s demands.

“We have placed our demands before the Governor and have suggested that he should come to Kolkata and meet Abhishek Banerjee and the deprived job-card holders who are protesting in the city,” Kalyan Banerjee said.

He asserted that the Governor expressed alignment with the state’s “legitimate demands” and pledged to pursue the matter with the Union government.

“But he has also said that if there is any political intervention regarding the matter, he can’t help,” he said.

On Friday, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had announced that a TMC delegation would meet with Governor CV Ananda Bose in Darjeeling on Saturday, in response to the Governor’s invitation.

Abhishek Banerjee, considered number 2 in the TMC, had also emphasised that the indefinite sit-in outside the Governor’s House in Kolkata would continue till Bose personally holds talks with the protesters.

Abhishek Banerjee initiated the sit-in on Thursday, following a substantial gathering of party members and top leadership marching to Raj Bhavan in Kolkata to protest against the alleged withholding of West Bengal’s MGNREGA dues by the Centre.