‘If CM Mamata Banerjee returns for 4th term, daily wage of tea garden workers will be hiked to Rs 300’: Abhishek Banerjee at Alipurduar rally

At the rally, Abhishek Banerjee first called tea garden worker Suresh Turi onto the stage and then asked him to list their demands. (Photo: Facebook/All India Trinamool Congress)

TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee Saturday promised to hike the daily wage of tea workers to Rs 300 if Mamata Banerjee were to win a fourth term as the Bengal chief minister.

While addressing the ‘Abar Jitbe Bangla’ rally in Alipurduar, he acknowledged that the present wage of Rs 250/day was insufficient. Simultaneously, the TMC MP also announced that all new bus routes from Alipurduar promised by CM Mamata Banerjee will be inaugurated next week.

After hearing this, Abhishek Banerjee responded, “Before our government came to power, the wage was Rs 60. It has been increased to Rs 250 step by step. I know that a family cannot run on this. If the new government is formed… the first priority will be Alipurduar. If necessary, I will come again. Or I will send someone senior. There will be a tripartite meeting among the state government, the labour unions and the management of the tea plantations. A daily wage of Rs 300 will be paid.”

Taking a potshot at the chief election commissioner, the TMC leader said, “There is a person called Vanish Kumar! He is a magician – bigger than P C Sorcar. He makes living people dead. Yesterday, I made them (those who were declared dead by ECI) walk the ramp during my public meeting (in Baruipur). This time, I appeal to the people of Alipurduar to show their magic.”

The TMC lost all five Assembly seats in Alipurduar in the 2021 state polls. The party could not win the Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 general elections as well.

In Alipurduar, Abhishek Banerjee also described the BJP as a snake. Criticising the BJP’s concept of ‘double-engine government’, he said, “In a double-engine sarkar (referring to Indore water poisoning deaths), people are dying after drinking water. The government that can’t give you clean water and better air quality would never give you Awas houses. In BJP-ruled states, more than 1,200 of our brothers and sisters from Bengal have been harassed. Ye Bengal jhukega nai (Bengal shall not bow down).”

Alipurduar was the second town to host Abhishek Banerjee’s Abar Jitbe Bangla yatra. On Friday, he addressed a rally in Baruipur under the South 24 Parganas.