Kolkata: Raj Bhavan sources said West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has agreed to meet a delegation of Trinamool Congress leaders in Darjeeling’s Gubernatorial Mansion at 5.30pm on Saturday after receiving a mail from TMC leader Derek O’Brien.
The governor’s decision to meet the delegation comes in the wake of a TMC sit-in outside Kolkata’s Raj Bhavan led by the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee demanding release of West Bengal’s MGNREGA dues by the Centre and demanding an audience with Bose.
“With reference to your mail of October 6, I am directed to inform you that the Governor would be pleased to meet you and other members of the delegation at 05.30 pm at Raj Bhavan, Darjeeling, on October 7. You are requested to kindly send a list of the delegation along with their names who would be meeting the governor,” said a letter sent by the governor’s deputy secretary.
Earlier in the day, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien had sent the mail to the governor requesting a meeting with him.
“Kindly let us know the date and time convenient for His Excellency to meet the delegation. We would appreciate if we are given one day’s notice, as the distance between Kolkata and Darjeeling is around 700 km. Please factor in the travel time,” the MP said.
According to O’Brien, the 15-member delegation will include five members of deprived families, five MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and five ministers from the West Bengal government.
Banerjee launched the sit-in on Thursday after thousands of party functionaries and its top leaders marched to the British-era building in the heart of the metropolis to protest the alleged withholding of the state’s MGNREGA dues by the Centre.
He has remained at the protest site through the intervening night between Thursday and Friday as did hundreds of party workers and held meetings with them. JRC/MNB
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Marziya Sharif | 
