MGNREGA dues in E Burdwan climbs to Rs 1300cr
Apart from the hefty MGNREGA wage dues, the unpaid money still remaining to be disbursed in favour of the vendors over the years, has reached a whopping Rs 1,300cr in East Burdwan.
As the state will go to polls for the fifth phase on Monday, the Trinamul Congress suffered a setback on Friday.
Over two hundred workers defected from the Trinamul Congress to the Congress. The election in the North Kolkata constituency is scheduled for 1 June, the seventh and last phase of election.
On Friday, these workers joined Congress in Ward 62 of North Kolkata. Veteran politician and outgoing MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay is contesting the election from this constituency on a Trinamul ticket. The BJP’s candidate is Tapas Roy, who recently quit Trinamul Congress. The alliance (Left-Congress) candidate for this constituency is Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya. Political circles believe that this defection in such a high-profile constituency is a major source of discomfort for the Trinamul Congress.
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Political analysts think that although the number of defecting workers is 200, the timing and circumstances make this event very significant. Most of those who defected are from the minority community. This raises questions about whether the minority community’s inclination towards Congress or other parties is increasing or if this is an isolated incident. Some believe this is merely the result of factional infighting within the ruling party in North Kolkata. On 27 May, TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee will march from Beleghata in support of the Trinamul candidate in North Kolkata. The events of Friday have already presented an uncomfortable situation for the ruling party.
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