Politics

How the strings were pulled to lift the price cap of jute, the Bengal BJP tried to enhance its sinister unity

May 20, 2022
Bharat Times

Jute has become the latest catalyst of politics in West Bengal this time. On Thursday evening, the central government came out with a notice to withdraw the price cap for fibre, a decision that has significant political ramifications.

BJP sources said action has been taken to retain West Bengal MP Arjun Singh in the party, as the Lok Sabha MP told reporters after a meeting with JP Nadda this week that the coming 15 days would be determined. whether he will remain or not. in BJP or not

Price limit of Rs 6,500 per quintal on raw Jute The allegation made by the Center in September was seen as pushing Arjun Singh to his former party Trinamool Congress.

The MP had opposed this move in Parliament itself. Singh represents Barrackpore, which is part of the “Jute Belt” of Bengal. He was of the view that the price cap would affect mill workers and MSMEs. Experts say that this move will also hurt Singh’s vote bank.

The BJP MP has written a letter to Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal saying that if nothing is done in seven days, he will launch an aggressive protest.

As seven days passed, Arjun Singh was called by the Union Minister, who patiently listened to his demands.

Goyal directed them to meet the Textiles Secretary and assured that the problem would be resolved.

Subsequently, Singh said that he was happy that the initiative was taken but that he would not be satisfied with “Lollipop”. Not just words, he wanted to see some action.

Singh also wrote a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and sought her intervention. He also informed about this to other Chief Ministers. Amidst all this, the BJP MP skipped the party’s Sankalp Yatra, prompting discussions about his possible return to the TMC.

A tripartite meeting was held on May 9 following Singh’s demand. The Ministry of Jute and other stakeholders were present there. The Labor Secretary of Bengal also participated in the meeting. He opposed the idea of ​​fixing a ceiling price for products like jute. Bengal also demanded 100 per cent reservation on packaging of food grains in jute sacks.

The jute dispute had the greatest impact in Bengal. About a dozen mills were closed and more than 60,000 workers were laid off. The situation has been conveyed to the Union Ministry.

Experts say that when raw jute prices were capped, artificial demand was created in the market. No one was ready to sell jute at that price.

The TMC trade union also took up the issue and got moral support from Arjun Singh, who was continuously commenting on the matter.

The Indian Jute Mills Association also requested the Jute Commissioner to increase the price to Rs 7,200, which was rejected. The IJMA went to court, which also asked the jute commissioner how this demand could be met.

Arjun Singh was also putting constant pressure on the leadership of his own party. Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal called him a second time and assured that his demand would be met.

Not only this; party chief JP Nadda The MP was also called. Sources say that Arjun Singh had indicated there that if the price cap does not go, he may go back to TMC.

The maximum price was withdrawn within two days of this meeting.

Arjun Singh called Piyush Goyal and thanked him, while he also tweeted on the matter.

Another BJP MP from Bengal, Locket Chatterjee, also took to the social media site to thank the Ministry of Textiles.

TMC also did not want to lag behind in taking credit for the development. Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC) state in-charge Ritabrata Banerjee also tweeted.

Arjun Singh had switched from TMC to BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He defeated Dinesh Trivedi of Trinamool and made him an MP from Barrackpore.

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