The Trinamool Congress Government and the Opposition parties including left and the Congress prepared for a showdown with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee taking strong steps to stall the general strike called by the central trade unions on Friday.
This even as the Government undertook to compensate the people against any act of violence and damage of property should they keep their institutions open and should there be an attack by the strikers.
“Bandh does not solve problems and only contributes to the miseries of the people” Mamata, who had highest number of such strikes to her party’s name before she came to power said on Thursday adding, “My Government will compensate the people
against any damage of property if they keep their establishments open.”
She also said that the Government was mulling action against the strikers who would cause damage to public properties. “The Government is thinking of ways to make those who damage public property compensate for their act,” she said.
While the Government issued a circular making it mandatory for all its employees to report to their office, the Trinamool workers descended on the streets to instill confidence among the people against any possible violence.
“Police pickets led by senior officers will be deployed at 350 locations in Kolkata to control bandh-enforcing mobs,” said a senior official while party leaders like Jyotipriya Mullick said “our workers will be on the roads to see that no mischief is committed by the strikers.”