Buoyed by the Congress’ poll debacle in the recent Assembly elections, the Trinamul Congress MPs have decided to pile up pressure on the UPA-2 government during the Budget Session in the Parliament.
The decision was taken in the Trinamul Congress parliamentary board meeting held at the Trinamul Congress Bhavan on Friday.
The party MPs then went to the Writers’ Buildings and briefed party chief and chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
After meeting Ms Banerjee, Trinamul Congress parliamentary party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said: “The Budget Session in the Lok Sabha will commence on March 12. The purpose of our meeting with the party chief was to know about the issues which have left impact on the state’s economy. We will raise those issues in the House in the interest of Bengal and its people. We will also raise our voice against the NCTC.”
Elaborating further, he mentioned that the Centre was not keen to give subsidy on fertiliser.
“We will not agree to it. The West Bengal government is burdened with huge debt. The state government spends `22,000 crore per month only on paying interest. Even the Finance Commission has said that West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab are the most debt-stressed states. Without any doubt, West Bengal deserves special attention (from the Centre),” Mr Bandyopadhyay added.
Indicating that the Trinamul Congress MPs would once again raise the demand for special Bengal package, he said that their sole objective was to uplift the state in all spheres.
The party will also raise issue like damage in two sluice gates in the Farakka Barrage which resulted in flow of excess Ganges water to Bangladesh.
Responding to a specific query on the Trinamul Congress’ stand if the Centre increased the fuel price again, he said: “We are totally opposed to fuel price hike. Last time, we had met the Prime Minister over this issue and the government had to roll back the increased price.”
When asked if the Trinamul Congress would prefer mid-term polls, Mr Bandyopadhyay said that the issue was not discussed in the meeting.