BJP is relenting under relentless pressure from Mamata Banerjee’s currency movement, sources in the Trinamool Congress swanked about in Kolkata on Wednesday quoting top leaders of that party.
A senior Minister in Bengal Cabinet said, “We have reports that feelers have been sent to our leader (read Mamata Banerjee) from the top most echelon of the BJP. They are willing to talk and make concessions as they have realised that under her, India is going to revolt as never before.”
The leader said senior Trinamool MP Sudip Bandopadhyay had been invited to talk things out at Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s office on Thursday.
Sources in the party said, TMC would return happier from the reported meeting if Bandopadhyay could extract concessions on lifting of ban on transaction from the cooperative banks which were barred from accepting old Rs1,000 and Rs500 notes post November 13 following complaints that these institutions were being used to legalise black money of politicians worth hundreds of crores.
“It sounds curious. This is the same Central Government at whose behest the CBI had a few days ago slapped a notice of appearance on Sudip. Today the same Government is willing to talk. This means that Mamata Banerjee is making impact all over the country,” the leader said adding, “if Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not retrace his steps on note ban then his party will feel the pinch in the elections.”
Banerjee who had earlier declared her plans to hold anti-demonetisation rallies in Bihar, lucknow, Punjab and elsewhere is currently in Delhi, in order “to make her presence felt.”
In Kolkata TMC took out a grand procession led by senior leaders including Subroto Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, Amit Mitra and Sashi Panja, even as the State Agriculture Minister Purnendu Bose warned that the State was facing famine on account of unavailability of big currency notes.
“If agricultural activities do not restore by December 15 then Bengal will be in the grip of famine and the State will incur loss to the tune of several thousand crores which we do not afford at this point in time.”
He said a massive crunch of currency notes on account of demonetisation has impeded harvesting which means 80 percent of the land under cultivation was lying with ripened paddy.
Note crunch will also lead to delayed or no sowing of potato seeds which is also a prime agricultural produce in Bengal, Bose said adding “if things do not improve by December 15 and if harvesting and sowing is not completed by then Bengal will go in the grip of famine.”
Bose was particularly concerned about the non-functioning of cooperative banks that he said “plays special role in giving loans to the farmers” adding “allowing these banks to work” can counter a famine threat.