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‘Delhi Chalo’: Mamata gives a fresh call to oust BJP from Centre
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday called for opposition unity and gave a clarion call for an ‘aur ek dafa Delhi chalo’ (once again let’s go to Delhi) to oust the BJP at the Centre.
West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday called for opposition unity and gave a clarion call for an ‘aur ek dafa Delhi chalo’ (once again let’s go to Delhi) to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre.
In 1943, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had given the slogan “Delhi Chalo” from Padang in Singapore to free India from British rule.
“We all love Netaji. In a bid to achieve freedom for the country, he gave the call ‘Delhi Chalo’. If the atrocities and the high-handedness of the Centre does not stop and if the people do not get their rights, then ‘aur ek dafa Delhi chalo’. We can also go to Delhi carrying photos (of freedom fighters) in our arms,” Banerjee said.
The chief minister was addressing a gathering in front of Dr B R Ambedkar’s statue on Kolkata’s Red Road during her 30 hour-demonstration, seeking release of central funds. The demonstration began on Wednesday.
It is not for the first time that Banerjee has raised the slogan ‘Delhi Chalo’. In 2018, she raised the slogan ‘Delhi Chalo… Lal Qila Chalo’ while urging non-BJP parties to put up a united fight against the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“The BJP is behaving like a feudal landlord. They think that the money deposited in the banks is their money. Zamindari chal raha hai. If someone speaks out against the BJP, the party sends central agencies and sends that person to jail,” she said.
Opposition parties in the past have accused the Centre of using central probe agencies against them.
“All of us have to unite, fight against the BJP and defeat it. If needed, we will march to Delhi to protest against the Centre’s attempts to destroy the country’s federal structure and keep states ruled by non-BJP parties bereft of funds,” the TMC chief said.
Banerjee said the 2024 Parliamentary polls will be a fight between the citizens of the country and the BJP, and said people across religions must unite to defeat the party and save the poor of the country.
She described the BJP as ‘Dushasana’ and ‘Duryodhana’ – the two antagonists from the epic ‘Mahabharata’. “I urge every political party in India to unite to oust this ‘Dushasana’ BJP government. This ‘Duryodhana’ BJP should be removed from power to save the country’s common man as well as Indian democracy,” she said.
Taking a dig at Banerjee, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said: “She is giving a call to go to Delhi. But her nephew is scared of going to Delhi as he apprehends, he might be sent to jail.”
He was referring to the chief minister’s nephew and TMC general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, who is facing a probe by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged coal scam and has been summoned to Delhi several times.
On Wednesday, Abhishek had threatened to bring the national capital to a standstill if the Centre did not release funds to the state.
Meanwhile, a few hundred metres away from Banerjee’s demonstration site, the BJP, Congress and CPI(M) leaders were spotted extending their support to a section of government employees, demanding a hike in dearness allowance. “The one who is draining the government coffers is staging a demonstration, alleging deprivation of central funds. She should come here and join the protest of state government employees who have been deprived too,” said state Congress spokesperson Koustav Bagchi.
