mamata banerjee: Mamata Banerjee sits overnight in ‘dharna’ against Centre, raises political temperature
The Trinamool Congress supremo was accompanied by several party leaders including Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas at the protest.
Security measures in and around the venue were tightened keeping in mind the presence of high-profile leaders and the perceived threat perception to them, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.
Banerjee started the sit-in demonstration from Wednesday noon protesting against the Centre’s alleged “stoppage” of funds to the state for MGNREGA and other schemes of the housing and public works departments.
The city has been witnessing a flurry of political activity ahead of the Panchayat elections slated for this ummer, which has now received a green signal from Calcutta High Court while was responding to a petition filed by the leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari earlier this week on the statistics being used to determine seat reservations.
Rival rallies by Banerjee’s nephew and upcoming TMC leader Abhisek, BJP’s Adhikari and a march organised by the Left-Congress alliance increased the state’s political temperature by a few notches along with the sit-in demonstration which has been drawing large crowds of onlookers.