Abhishek Banerjee leads TMC protest at Rajghat; BJP calls it 'drama' to divert attention from scams in Bengal
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee along with party leaders and workers sat on a dharna at the Rajghat here on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on Monday demanding the release of funds for West Bengal by the Centre. The Lok Sabha member, accompanied by party leaders including MPs, MLAs and state ministers who had arrived from West Bengal, paid tributes to Gandhi at the memorial and held the protest for two hours, sporting black armbands and displaying placards, after which they were escorted out by security personnel.
«They are scared that is why they are doing this… They talk about being a big party, but it is now visible that they are scared,» Banerjee told media persons outside Rajghat before he and other TMC protesters were asked to clear the area.
The TMC lashed out at the central government for «stopping» it from holding a «peaceful protest» and alleged that the protesters were heckled and manhandled by the security personnel.
The BJP hit back accusing the TMC of committing theft of government funds. Union Minister Anurag Thakur alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has sent her party leaders under a «corrupt and tainted» MP to stage the protest to divert the public attention from the «numerous scams» that took place in her state.
At a press conference, Thakur dismissed TMC's allegations that the state's funds were being withheld and claimed there was no shortage of money for the centrally-sponsored schemes in West Bengal.
The BJP also fielded its state leaders, including unit president Sukanta Majumdar, Union minister Subhas Sarkar and MP Locket Chatterjee, who accused TMC of doing a «drama» in Delhi.
