Mamata asks Modi, ‘Why do you humiliate us?’

West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee was deliberately humiliated either by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi or his staff, during PM’s visit to West Bengal yesterday.

This clear from what Banerjee told media today to “as only a one-sided version” was given to the media about her alleged walkout on the Prime Minister.

Mamata Banerjee has had confrontations with Modi in the past too and on Friday, she is said to have walked out on the Prime Minister, who had visited West Bengal to assess the damage in the state. The Union Government promptly circulated photographs of empty chairs, meant for the Chief Minister and West Bengal Chief Secretary.

The official briefing was that Mamata Banerjee made the Prime Minister wait for over 20 minutes for a meeting and then left after handing over a brief to him, without waiting for a meeting. The other charge against her is that she protested against the presence of Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Banerjee in the assembly elections and is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the state.

She informed the media today that she was made to wait for 20 minutes as she was told that the Prime Minister’s helicopter had not landed. At the venue, she learnt that that the PM had already arrived some time earlier and was in a meeting.

The Chief Minister said that she was asked to wait outside as nobody was to be allowed, since the PM was in a meeting. She was told that the meeting would be held for an hour.

She then learnt that the meeting had been shifted to the conference hall, so she reached there to find that the PM was in a meeting with Governor, ‘some central leaders and legislators of the opposition party in West Bengal’.

“This was clearly against the brief. It was supposed to be only a PM-Chief Minister meeting. So, we decided to submit our report to the PM and then with the Prime Minister's permission we went to Digha. I sought the Prime Minister's permission three times. I said, 'Sir, with your kind permission, may I please leave? We need to go to Digha for assessment and the weather is also not too good." Only then did we leave,” Banerjee told the media.

On her objection to the presence of the Leader of the Opposition, she said that when the PM had meetings with the Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Odisha, the respective Leaders of the Opposition were not present.

Any agitated Banerjee asked, “Why do you humiliate us? Why do you target us? Why do you disturb us? Only because you cannot digest the fact that you lost the election in Bengal? If the PM tells me to touch his feet in return for his help to Bengal, I am willing to do even that for the people of Bengal and the betterment of Bengal, but please do not play these dirty political games. Do not punish Bengal like this. Do not insult and humiliate the Chief Secretary, who is working hard.”

The Central Government took action against West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay by asking him to report to the South Block.

On this action, Banerjee said, “I appeal to the Home Minister to take back this letter calling back the Chief Secretary. Why are you targeting him? By doing this you are insulting all Chief Secretaries across the nation - in all states. Do you think the IAS, IPS and other civil services do not have a lobby? Do not insult or challenge them.”

According to sources, Bandyopadhyay lost his brother early this week, yet has been working due to the Yaas cyclone.