TMC MPs in RS walk out over pending dues for West Bengal, claim state ignored in Budget

The Trinamool Congress on Monday once again raised the issue of pending central dues payable to West Bengal and staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha shortly after the House met. Speaking to the media after the walkout, party's deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose alleged that the Centre owed West Bengal Rs 2 lakh crore. ''Today, in the Rajya Sabha, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) has walked out because of the manner in which Bengal has not been mentioned even once in the Budget and Bengal's dues are still being held up. Rs 2 lakh crore is due to Bengal under various heads, MGNREGA, Awas Yojana, PMAY…,'' Ghose told PTI Videos. ''This is a violation of the federal structure. This is a violation of Centre-state relations. It's a violation of the Constitution,'' she said. Ghose further claimed that West Bengal was ignored in the Union Budget presented on Sunday. ''The manner in which the Budget chose to ignore Bengal is the reason today we have raised this issue on the floor of Parliament and walked out,'' she said. Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Thakur accused the Centre of discriminating against West Bengal after the BJP faced a defeat in the state in the last assembly polls. ''Since the people of Bengal decisively rejected the BJP in 2021, the Centre has responded with vindictiveness instead of federal responsibility by blocking MGNREGA wages, withholding funds for roads and rural infrastructure, and stalling welfare-linked allocations meant for the poor and marginalised,'' the TMC leader said. Asserting that this ''systematic discrimination'' against the state is unacceptable, Thakur said, ''To protest against this grave injustice, TMC Rajya Sabha MPs staged a walkout from Parliament today. We will continue to raise our voice, inside and outside Parliament, until Bengal receives its rightful dues,'' she added.