SHILLONG:
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said it was upto the local party leaders to decide on politicians joining the party and she had no objection to that.
Addressing a press conference here, she refused to disclose the issues that the party will take up in the manifesto.
As for TMC’s chief ministerial candidate, she said, “Let the elections be declared and we will let you know.”
She assured that the TMC will ‘seriously’ look into the ‘sensitive’ issue of Inner Line Permit (ILP) and will form an expert committee to look into the matter and castigated the BJP and NPP for not being serious about the issue.
She further said that the TMC is against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Stating that the party stands for democracy, she urged the people of the state to not pursue money power.
“There is no challenge, we only want to defeat BJP,” Banerjee said.
On the other hand, Banerjee met the families of victims of the Mukroh shooting incident on November 22 and handed over Rs 5 lakh each to the kin.
HELP FOR WOMEN
Earlier, Banerjee launched TMC’s flagship Meghalaya Financial Inclusion for Women Empowerment Scheme, which guarantees financial assistance of Rs 1,000 per month to a woman from each household in the state, on the lines of West Bengal’s successful Lakshmir Bhandar scheme which has already benefited 1.8 crore women in the state.
Under this scheme, a direct transfer will be made to a woman of every household as guaranteed universal income support of Rs 1,000 per month (Rs 12,000 yearly).
She addressed thousands of party workers and members of Meghalaya TMC, at the U Soso Tham Auditorium, State Central Library, here.
Members of the state, district and block committees along with members from women, youth and student frontals of the party were also present at the august gathering. The event began by commemorating the victims of Mukroh firing incident, in which five innocent civilians from Meghalaya lost their lives.
The AITC chairperson expressed her deep anguish over the MDA government’s abject silence and utter inaction.
She castigated the NPP-led MDA government for their mis-governance. “Why is BJP neglecting Meghalaya, why are they neglecting the North East? Why is Meghalaya being run from Guwahati and Delhi?” she questioned.
She reaffirmed her commitment to the women of Meghalaya through this unique campaign and instructed the party workers to ensure that this scheme reaches every household of the state.
Meanwhile, AITC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee rubbished claims that AITC was a Bengali party and insisted that a Meghalayan will lead the state, unlike the current government, which is controlled from either Guwahati or Delhi.
“Meghalaya will have a government that will fight for the rights of the people. BJP brags and boasts about the ‘double-engine’ government. But how many times has Conrad (Sangma) gone to Delhi to file a memorandum or submit a deputation to include Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution? Not even once.”
Trinamool Congress Legislature Party Leader and Leader of Opposition Dr. Mukul Sangma said, “We shall not rest until we achieve the mission to provide a sense of security to all the people, especially to the people of villages and interstate borders who are constantly being subjected to harassment and atrocities. We have come together collectively to end this oppression and suppression.”