Kolkata, Sep 16: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and party MPs, MLAs and leaders from the districts will pay their respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in New Delhi on his birth anniversary on October 2, a party leader said.
The next day, Banerjee along with her nephew and other leaders will meet Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh and place before him the issue of non-release of longstanding dues under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, party leader Chandrima Bhattacharya said on Saturday.
“We had plans to stage protests in New Delhi for the non-release of NREGA dues to Bengal. But despite several requests to Delhi Police, we were not given permission. But we will go to New Delhi on October 2 and pay our respects to the Father of the Nation. Our supremo Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, all our party MPs, MLAs and panchayat samiti sabhapatis will accompany,” Bhattacharya told reporters.
Bhattacharya alleged that Delhi Police, which is controlled by the Union home ministry, did not give them permission to hold the protests.
“Since Delhi Police is under the central government, they did not give us the permission to hold the protests,” she said. “The next day (October 3), led by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, we will meet Giriraj Singh to discuss the non-release of NREGA dues to Bengal,” she said.
Bhattacharya, who is the finance minister of Bengal, said the party on Saturday sent a letter to Singh seeking an appointment. (PTI)
