Rahul Gandhi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to release funds for Bengal under MGNREGS so that the pending wages of workers can be cleared and demand for work under the 100 days’ jobs scheme can be met.

In his letter, Rahul said he came to know of the “devastating plight” of the MGNREGS workers of Bengal during his recent visit to the state for his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

“A delegation of MGNREGS workers from Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity apprised me of the issues faced by them,” he wrote in the letter, which was tweeted and retweeted by several Congress leaders. He also reminded Modi of the duty to rise above political differences “to uphold social, political and economic justice".

On how the Centre’s funds freeze has shrunk work opportunities in Bengal, Rahul’s letter said that between 2021-22 to 2023-24, the number of households availing work under the scheme came down from 75 lakh households to 8,000.

Although central Congress leaders like party president Mallikarjun Kharge and chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh had earlier broached the issue, this is the first time Rahul has spoken on the funds freeze.

As the contents of the letter, written on February 10, 2024, virtually echoes what Mamata Banerjee has been saying in recent months, there were speculations on whether the Congress leader was trying to reach out to Mamata in a last-ditch attempt to keep the INDIA bloc intact in Bengal.

Expressing her exasperation with the delay in dealing seat-sharing deals with the Congress and other alliance partners and attacks on her by state leaders of the Congress, which rejected her two-seat offer in Bengal, Mamata recently announced that Trinamul would contest all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state alone.

Although there was no official reaction from Trinamul on Rahul’s letter, sources in the party said it should make Mamata happy as it vindicated her stand.

No one in Trinamul, however, tried to hazard a guess on whether the letter would revive seat-sharing talks.

There are rumours that the Congress and the Left have begun talks to fight Trinamul and the BJP in Bengal.

Md Salim, CPM state secretary, welcomed Rahul’s letter. “It is a fact that the Centre is withholding money.... The provisions under which they have frozen funds by accusing the state government of defalcation also demand action.... Ideally, state and central governments should release white papers on their claims, but they are peddling white lies,” he said.