Two days before PM Modis Durgapur visit, Mamata Banerjee leads TMC rally against harassment of Bengali migrant workers

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and his nephew and next-in-command in TMC, MP Abhishek Banerjee, led a rally in Kolkata on Wednesday against the harassment that migrant workers from here are allegedly facing in other states. As per reports, those workers are being called undocumented Bangladeshis and are detained by police.

On July 15, TMC alleged eight migrant workers from Nadia were illegally detained in Chhattisgarh, a state ruled by the BJP. Moreover, the families of their workers have claimed they have valid Indian documents.

The ruling party in West Bengal took to X and levelled further allegations on Wednesday, saying, "BJP’s hatred for Bengal is no secret. When freezing Central funds failed to bring Bengal to its knees, the Bangla-Birodhi @BJP4India stooped to a new low, targeting innocent Bengali migrant workers in Double-Engine states. Six members of the Matua community from North 24-Parganas, including minors, were illegally detained and harassed by @MahaPolice. Despite possessing valid ID documents, @Dev_Fadnavis’s administration showed them no mercy."

It further added, "Let us make this crystal clear: WE WILL NOT BOW. We will resist. We will rise. And we will hold every perpetrator of this injustice accountable. No power can silence Bengal. Not now, not ever." According to reports, Kondagaon (Chhattisgarh) police superintendent Akshay Kumar has said that the workers have been released and they were detained as they failed to produce identity documents.

The TMC rally was led by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, and it took place from College Square to Esplanade in the heart of Kolkata. The party has alleged that Bengali migrant workers have been detained in other states like Odisha, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Delhi. Some of them were sent to Bangladesh and later rescued.

Notably, the rally of Mamata Banerjee came two days before PM Narendra Modi's Bengal visit. On July 18, he is scheduled to address several industrial projects and speak at a public rally in Durgapur. State BJP general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay, "We are expecting people from West Bardhaman, East Bardhaman and Bankura to attend the rally. The turnout is likely to cross two lakh at the Durgapur Nehru Stadium."

He added, "The PM will inaugurate several projects involving PSUs. In Bengal, not a single industry was inaugurated. Instead, the TMC is using the state machinery to increase the wealth of its leaders and workers. Police are being used to protect the interests of the ruling party."