The Mamata Banerjee-government in West Bengal is leaving no stone unturned to make the February 28 strike a flop show. The chief minister has asked the administration as well as her party to ensure that normal life is not disrupted in the state on Tuesday. She also instructed the administration to ensure normal attendance of the state government employees on that day.
All major Central trade unions have called nationwide industrial strike to press for their demands.
In a desperate attempt to foil the strike to prevent the CPI(M) from gaining political mileage, the chief minister chaired two separate meetings. In the first meeting with her party’s trade union leaders Subrata Mukherjee, Dola Sen, Purnendu Bose and Sobhandeb Chattopad-hyay, Ms Banerjee asked them to politically counter the strike. In her second meeting with senior police bosses, she asked them to thwart any attempt to disrupt normal life on Tuesday.
She was also encouraged by the observation of the Calcutta high court which expressed satisfaction over the state government’s steps to ensure normal life on February 28.
The state government also warned that strong action would be taken against employees who would report absent on February 28.