West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has postponed her Delhi tour on Wednesday, apparently in the wake of the death of Maharashtra Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, said Trinamool Congress sources.
CM Banerjee, who was supposed to lead an anti-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) agitation in Delhi on Thursday, is likely to reschedule her trip in the early weeks of February to heighten her protest against the Election Commission in the national capital.
A senior leader of TMC said, “It is not very decent to jump into the movement on the day when a prominent leader of the country died in an accident. So, Mamata Banerjee decided to postpone the plan for the time being.”
According to TMC sources, the chief minister, during her Delhi leg of protests, will be accompanied by relatives of some of the SIR “victims” from the state who have either died or are affected. According to TMC, more than 70 people have died due to SIR so far.
“Although the exact date and tenure of her visit to the national capital is yet to be finalised, the chief minister wants to be there during the upcoming Budget session of Parliament, considering that important leaders and MPs of all major Opposition parties would be present in New Delhi then,” the TMC leader said.
However, the West Bengal chief minister, during her speech at Singur on Wednesday, said she has postponed the Delhi trip in the wake of the recent fire at a warehouse in Anandapur, where 19 people died, and wanted to stay back in Kolkata.
She also said that she will fight on SIR in court if necessary and confirmed that she must raise the people’s rights in the ears of Delhi. Besides, the chief minister said that there is no reason to fear the common people. Banerjee said, “They are showing arrogance. I will crush all. Just stay by me. Stay healthy.”
The chief minister and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had stated that their protests against the SIR exercise will not be limited to West Bengal but will be taken to the national capital, especially in front of the Election Commission’s headquarters there.
Dharna planned in front of Election Commission office
Mamata Banerjee, according to TMC sources, will stage a dharna in front of the Election Commission of India along with the party’s frontline leaders, MPs, and victims’ family members. She has also planned to meet President Draupadi Murmu. Abhishek Banerjee will also accompany the movement.
This is not the first time Mamata Banerjee has lifted the movement of Bengal to Delhi to attract national politics. Before assuming power in West Bengal during the Singur-Nandigram Anti-land Acquisition Movement, CM Banerjee went to Delhi to protest in July 2008. At that time, too, she had met the then-President Pratibha Patil along with the victims of families who had died in police atrocities at Nandigram and Singur.
During March-April 2023, Abhishek Banerjee, accompanied by the labourers who had not received MGNREGA wages for more than two years, went to Delhi and staged a sit-in dharna at Jantar Mantar and Krishi Bhawan, demanding the pending dues from the Central government.
“This time, Mamata Banerjee wants to forge Opposition unity in the anti-SIR movement. To gain the momentum of the movement, she is going during the Budget session of Parliament,” said a senior TMC leader.