A massive rally called by State government employees seeking DA (Dearness Allowance) parity with Central government employees on Saturday brought the Opposition parties— the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and the Left parties— on one platform.
The protest by the State government employees entered into the 100th day today and the rally organised from Hazra to Esplanade was to mark the occasion. The protesting employees, who have been at loggerheads with the ruling establishment, passed through Harish Mukherjee Road, on which the house of Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is located.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kalatan Dasgupta and Srijan Bhattacharya from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Koustav Bagchi and Asit Mitra of the Congress joined the protesting government employees.
Sink differences
Speaking at the gathering, Mr. Adhikari said that irrespective of political ideology, people should come together to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power in West Bengal. The Nandigram MLA also raised the question as to why the petition by protesting government employees was being postponed in the Supreme Court.
After the Calcutta High Court had ruled in favour of the protesting employees, the West Bengal government approached the Supreme Court. The State government’s argument was that it did not have enough resources to pay DA to the government employees at par with the Centre or other States.
Kalatan Dasgupta of the CPI(M) targeted Chief Minister Mamata Baneerjee and said that at one point of time, posters of the Chief Minister as a “ satatar protik (symbol of honesty)” had come at different places. The CPI(M) leader said that people could bring down such posters at any point of time.
While the police had denied permission for the rally, the Calcutta High Court allowed the same to the protesters. A few days ago, another faction of the State government employees had brought out a rally from the Howrah Railway Station to the Howrah Maidan on the same issue.
Another highlight of the rally was the presence of Sonali Guha, long-term associate of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former Deputy Speaker of West Bengal. Ms. Guha had joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 Assembly poll but decided to return to the Trinamool after the BJP did not give her ticket to contest the poll. Ms. Guha said that she would not return to the Trinamool and that Suvendu Adhikari was her leader.
Abhishek targets Adhir
During the day, while participating in “Trinamooler Nabo Jowar ( Trinamool’s new wave)” in Murshidabad district, Abhishek Banerjee targeted State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and accused him of having an understanding with the BJP. Mr. Banerjee said that the Congress leader had never hit the streets demanding funds for the State. Nor had the BJP leadership held press conferences targeting Mr. Chowdhury, he added. He also referred to the Sagardighi bypoll where the Trinamool’s nominee lost to the Congress candidate and added that the BJP had been empowered by the results of the bypoll.
Mr. Chowdhury refuted the allegations and asked how many times the Trinamool MP had raised a voice against the BJP in the Parliament. “We are the ones who protest against the BJP not those who make a deal with them,” the Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, said.
“We are the ones who protest against the BJP not those who make a deal with them”Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury State Congress president
