A day after asking the Centre to repeal the contentious farm laws or face a nationwide stir Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Friday sent one of her most trusted lieutenants Derek O’Brien to Haryana and Punjab borders near Delhi with a strong message of solidarity.
She also spoke to the protesting farm leaders telling them how she launched a 26-day fast near Singur in the interest of farmers in 2006, ruling Trinamool Congress sources said.
The TMC chief also directed two of her party leaders and Ministers Becharam Manna and Purnendu Basu to stage a sit-in demonstration in Kolkata from December 8 to 10 and promised to join the dharna on the last day of sit-in prompting immediate reaction from State BJP president Dilip Ghosh who attacked Banerjee for looting the farmers of Bengal.
Senior party leader and MP Kakoli Ghoshdastidar said that the Chief Minister held telephonic conversations at least four times with the agitating farm leaders.
Besides sending O’Brien the Chief Minister made at least four calls to different farmers’ groups from Haryana and Punjab, the MP said, adding “They reiterated their demands in their talks with the Chief
Minister and thanked her for her solidarity.”
O’Brien on the other hand met the farm leaders of several unions at Singhu border (near Delhi) and conveyed Banerjee’s message, said another TMC leader and Minister adding “the result of Singhu movement will be no different from the one led by Mamata Banerjee at Singur… while after Singur movement the Left Front went from power and there at Singhu BJP will lose its power.”
Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar and elsewhere were protesting in Delhi against the enacting of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 passed by the Centre.
Referring to the Singur movement where then opposition leader Banerjee led a conclusive movement against the forcible acquisition of 1,000 acres of land for the Tata Nano car factory the Chief Minister on Friday tweeted, “14 years ago on 4 Dec 2006, I began my 26 day hunger strike in Kolkata demanding that agricultural land cannot be forcefully acquired. I express my solidarity with all farmers who are protesting against draconian farm bills passed without consultation by Centre.”
The BJP which has recently emerged the main challenger in Bengal preparing to capture power in the State in 2021 Assembly elections immediately hit back saying in Bengal only 10-12 per cent of farmers could access MSP while the rest had to go for distress selling of their crops.
“By backing the false farm movement incited by vested interests the Chief Minister too is showing her true colours,” Ghosh said attacking former BJP ally and Siromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal and NCP chief Sharad Pawar for “baking their respective breads in the farm movement.”
Addressing a public meeting Ghosh said “the farm laws brought by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directly hit Rs 5,000 crore interests of the Badals which is why they are supporting the movement.”
He also said that the family of the NCP chief too was involved in a profitable business of Rs 10-12,000 crore in farm produce which was why his party was supporting the farm movement.”
Attacking the Bengal Chief Minister for raising the “outsider” bogey alleging the BJP was bringing outside leaders to Bengal to win elections Ghosh said, “The Chief Minister is calling Amit Shah, JP Nadda and other leaders outsiders but she is silent on Shah Rukh Khan and PK who are being used by her to win elections.”
On the latest populist project of providing 10 lakh tabs — to Class XII students — launched by the Chief Minister, Ghosh said “she is announcing about tabs now … why did she not offer the same tabs 8 months before when the lockdown started and school classes were discontinued due to corona pandemic… this is the same Chief Minister who distributed below par cycles to the school students.”