West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday reached out to the protesting farmers at the Singhu border in Delhi and spoke to them over the phone to assure them that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was by their side. Mamata sent five of her MPs to the Singhu border, which included Derek O'Brien, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Pratima Mondol, and Md Nadimul Haque.
“Whoever is willing to come and talk to us, we will be open to it. We will defeat the Modi government. The work you are doing in West Bengal is very good and we praise you. You have given a tough fight to the BJP in the past and we wish many other women like you work for the country. Thank you for talking to us,” said a farmers' union leader while speaking to Mamata.
Derek O'Brien tweeted, “"Please come & join our dharna it will give us more strength" said a farmer on the phone to @MamataOfficial. A 5 member delegation of @AITCofficial MPs visited Singhu border again to express solidarity with protesting farmers. Bengal CM spoke to multiple groups #KisanDiwas”
The TMC has been against the BJP and wants the Centre to withdraw the anti-farm laws. This, however, goes beyond the farmer’s protests as the TMC is trying to gain the confidence of the people by showing her party is pro-people, more so ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was in West Bengal over the weekend, where he spoke about how Mamata has "deprived" farmers in the state of the Rs. 6,000 that was meant for them.
This prompted Mamata to write a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to disburse the funds to the state which, in turn, will be used for the welfare of the farmers.
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