• Source:PTI
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Amid biting cold, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spent a night on Dharna, demanding state's dues from the Centre for various social welfare schemes. Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo along with her party leaders started the demonstration on Friday afternoon in front of the BR Ambedkar's statue in the Maidan area in the heart of Kolkata. The dharna will continue for 48 hours till Sunday.

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State ministers such as Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas were among those who accompanied Banerjee the night, party leaders said on Saturday morning. Bengal CM was demonstrating while asserting that the state was owed thousands of crores of rupees by the BJP-led central government for various social schemes, such as the PM Awas Yojana and the MGNREGA.

The ruling TMC accused the BJP-led NDA government of withholding Rs 15,000 crore in dues to the state under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and PM Awas Yojana.

Earlier, Banerjee said the Centre owed Rs 1.15 lakh crore to West Bengal on various accounts, including 100 days of work under MGNREGA. She said the Centre is collecting GST from the state but not sharing the proceeds.

"Many of the funds which the state is eligible for getting under various central schemes like MGNREGA are also not forthcoming. The state is being deprived of its financial dues from the Centre," the chief minister said, news agency PTI quoted.