Mamata Banerjee to take cash crunch fight to BJP’s turf

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is looking to take her campaign against demonetisation to states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), upping the ante in her battle against the BJP.

add_main_imageWith the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) turning up the heat against her Trinamool Congress (TMC) party’s leaders—two members of parliament (MPs) were arrested in the past week, Banerjee is keen to take the fight to the BJP’s turf.

She has alleged that the recent arrest of TMC MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal for allegedly helping the now defunct Rose Valley group expand its deposit collection business was politically motivated to intimidate her party.mobAds

Her first destination will be the neighbouring state of Jharkhand, Banerjee said on Friday. She has despatched a TMC team led by cabinet minister Purnendu Bose to do the spadework ahead of her visit.

Those on the team are tribal leaders of the party such as Srikanto Mahata, Sandhya Rani Tudu and Santiram Mahato from districts adjoining Jharkhand. These leaders will meet with Bose on Friday in East Midnapore district and brief him about the local situation, following which they will travel to Jharkhand on Saturday.

Banerjee is of the view that tribal people in West Bengal and Jharkhand are affected by the cash crunch in the wake of demonetisation, and is trying to expand her support base within this community beyond her home state, said a key aide, who asked not to be named.NextMAds

Cabinet minister Bose said the team will visit tribespeople in Jharkhand to understand how they have been affected by demonetisation, and submit a report to Banerjee. Based on that report, she will plan her programmes in Jharkhand.

Apart from disruption in daily lives due to the cash crunch, Banerjee is also looking to tap local discontent in certain areas of Jharkhand caused by acquisition of tribal land for industrial use, according to the aide cited above.

She claims around 1,500 acres was unjustly taken from tribal people.thirdMAds

This is the first time Banerjee is speaking of taking her fight to BJP-ruled states. She has visited Delhi several times to cobble together a large alliance of opposition parties. On her first visit, she managed to earn the support of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

She later visited Lucknow and was received at the airport by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. His Samajwadi Party backed her protest rally in Lucknow, but Banerjee has not been able to make much headway since.

Lately, she took part in a brainstorming session called by the Congress party in Delhi, but for now it appears that she will go solo to keep the debate over demonetisation alive. On Friday, she said she had no immediate plans to visit Delhi.