Mamata Banerjee to Announce Revival of Protest for Central Funds on November 16

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Wednesday that her party's decision to resume its campaign to demand the release of central funds due to Bengal, which her nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee had put on hold until October 31, would be made public on November 16 at a meeting held at Netaji Indoor Stadium.

During a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon at the state secretariat, Nabanna, Mamata mentioned releasing a statement regarding the revival of Trinamul's movement.

"We had previously stated that on November 1, we would reveal our schedule. Mamata declared, "I hereby make it clear that our protest will escalate to its most intense phase if the funds for MGNREGS are not released."

Mamata had threatened a "bigger" protest against the BJP-led Centre on October 12 for refusing to provide Bengal's poor the money they were owed under federal programs. She then turned to Durga for protection from the "conspiracy to starve" the state.

Bengal is allegedly owed around Rs 1.15 lakh crore in central dues, of which approximately Rs 15,000 crore is due to the MGNREGS (100-day work) and the Awas Yojana (housing) alone, according to the Trinamul Congress.

"On November 16, at noon, we have a meeting in the Netaji Indoor Stadium with the leadership from every level, including the civic body, MLAs, MPs, zilla parishad, gram panchayat, and panchayat samiti. We will make decisions at that meeting about how to bring the movement ahead," the chairperson of Trinamul stated.

After meeting with Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose on October 9, Abhishek, the national general secretary of Trinamul, decided to temporarily rescind his indefinite sit-in demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan. He attributed his decision to Mamata's advice.

The Diamond Harbour MP had warned a bigger, more aggressive agitation that would effectively be a fight-to-the-finish, led by Mamata herself, if the BJP-run Centre did not appropriately reply to his requests for the release of funding by October 31.

"We will draft the protest's blueprint during our meeting, and on November 16, we will make it public. The meeting will take place after that because we have a lot of festivals coming up, including Kali Puja, Diwali, and Bhai Phonta. We have Jagaddhatri and Chhath pujas right after the meeting. We'll take them into account," Mamata stated on Wednesday.

The aunt and nephew pair first declared the initiative in March. Overcoming multiple setbacks and last-minute adjustments to the schedule, Abhishek led the demonstration alone in Delhi and Calcutta at the beginning of October, with Mamata being absent due to health concerns.

On October 5, Abhishek led a 90-minute march of hundreds from Rabindra Sadan before beginning the sit-in protest outside the governor's mansion.

These actions were a response to reports that on October 3, at the Krishi Bhavan in Delhi, a 40-member group, including him, was beaten and physically restrained by Delhi Police. The delegation had been refused a scheduled meeting with the junior Union minister for rural development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti. Additionally, starting at 9:15 p.m., the delegation was held at the New Police Lines at Kingsway Camp for more than 90 minutes.

"Our ministers, MPs, and MLAs traveled to Delhi at the invitation of a minor Union minister. But even though she stayed in her office, (she) did not get to meet the delegation's victims of the financial freeze. However, BJP representatives receive warm welcomes when they come," Mamata remarked on Wednesday.

On October 9, Abhishek led a delegation of thirty people to Raj Bhavan to meet with Governor Bose. The delegation included leaders and elected representatives as well as those who had been denied benefits from central schemes. Abhishek praised Bose for his approach to the negotiations and thanked him for moving quickly to take up the issue with the Center.

At that moment, Abhishek announced that Mamata would lead the protest from the front if it needed to be restarted, while also hitting the pause button.

"In just seven days, we completely upended the nine-year Narendra Modi government, even though she (Mamata) wasn't even there. They feel afraid. Their stability has obviously vanished. He had said, "The BJP leaders' body language is telling." "Imagine what will happen when she takes to the streets in the next two months, with one lakh people in Delhi. That was just a teaser. The movie still needs to be seen.