Nearly 300 supporters of the Trinamool Congress-backed Dunlop Bachao Nagarik Mancha (Save Dunlop Citizens’ Forum) picketed outside the gates of the closed Sahagunj plant in Hooghly. The management had put up a notice on Monday announcing its decision to resume the work.

The management announced that the plant would be reopened on March 6 and 229 of the total 1,189 workers would be called initially for maintenance and refurbishment of the company.

The workers, however, said the resumption of work was symbolic and merely an election gimmick.

While only 229 workers are called initially, the rest will have to wait, and will not be receiving their salaries till then. “Since Lok Sabha polls are approaching, the state government is hoodwinking the workers by trying to open the factory. They are actually absorbing only a handful of workers,” said Partho Chatterjee, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly.

The workers took out a rally and dubbed the reopening bid as a political stunt by the CPM using the factory’s management. “We will go on to picket and protest near the gate. The management has not paid our wages for October and November, besides other dues. We will request the workers not to enter the factory on March 6. If police tries to use force on us, the situation will deteriorate,” said Mancha leader Ananta Roy.

Mancha supporters demanded a meeting with the management and called the March 6 reopening “eyewash”. They demanded that all terms and conditions be discussed with them and all workers be benefited.

The Sahaganj unit has been closed since November 30 last year. In November, Dunlop owner and industrialist Pawan Ruia had said there was no option except to stop production and reduce salaries due to shortfall in working capital.

But the Mancha opposed the plan and went against the decision of established unions, which had accepted Ruia’s proposal. After the closure, Dunlop had sought a Rs 100-crore bridge loan from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, which the agency declined.