By IANS,
Kolkata : West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress government Thursday claimed the people of the state rejected the strike, called by the central trade unions on its second and final day.
“Whether there was an industrial strike? You listen to me. Today (Thursday) people joined work everywhere,” Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters here.
The West Bengal unit of the Marxist-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) decided to observe Thursday, the second day of the 48-hour nationwide stir, as an industrial strike as Feb 21, the International Mother Tongue Day, is celebrated as ‘Bhasha Divas’ in Bengal.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is opposing the strike, earlier asked government employees to come to office on the days of strike and also warned of strict action against traders who would not keep their shops open during the strike.
Chatterjee claimed that people did not accept the strike and everything was normal.
“People defied the agitation in full strength. In IT sector, attendance varied between 100 percent and 80 percent,” he said.
Blaming the erstwhile Left Front government in the state for a “deterioration” in the state’s work culture, the minister said his government was determined to “restore” that.