Abhishek in dharna outside Raj Bhavan to meet Governor

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee has laid a siege outside Raj Bhavan with Trinamul Congress MLAs and MPs from Thursday afternoon after finding that governor CV Ananda Bose left to visit the flood-affected districts in the north of the state without meeting his delegation.

The TMC national general secretary also vowed to continue his stir till Mr Bose returns to the city and meets him. On Wednesday TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien sought an appointment from Raj Bhavan for a meeting over no release of outstanding central welfare funds under various schemes to the state and alleged rough behaviour by the Delhi police on a party delegation few days ago

But the Raj Bhavan said that Mr Bose, who was in New Delhi, has cut short his visit to fly to North Bengal to visit flood-affected areas on Thursday morning. Mr O'Brien was however given an option for the meeting at Siliguri circuit house in the afternoon. TMC rejected the idea.

On Thursday afternoon, Mr Banerjee led a march from Mohor Kunja, a park near Victoria Memorial, to Raj Bhavan. Since Mr Bose was not in Raj Bhavan, Mr Banerjee sat in dharna near the entrance.

The Diamond Harbour parliamentarian said, "We have shown respect to the governor but we do not accept his zamindari attitude. Our peaceful agitation will continue here till he meets us. I will not move from here. My determination is stronger than the state government."