KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is "undecided" about participating in a virtual meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the chief ministers on Wednesday after it was reported that the state has not been slotted as a speaker.
Modi is holding two-day-long consultations with the chief ministers from Tuesday as the country gradually emerges out of lockdown in the backdrop of rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.
TMC sources said on Tuesday that Banerjee is still undecided about attending the meeting and the state would be represented in it by a senior government official.
"What is the need for attending the meeting if you are not allowed to speak .The chief minister is still undecided about attending the meeting with the prime minister," a senior TMC leader told PTI.
West Bengal has been invited to the meeting but has not been slotted as one of the speakers, TMC sources said.
This has kicked off a political storm in the state with TMC criticising the union government and the BJP defending the "Centre's decision as the right one".
"It seems the Centre's so worried about exposing itself to @MamataOfficial's constructive criticism on #COVID response that our hon'ble CM's been reduced to just a mute spectator for the latest round of VCs with the PM. People of Bengal won't forgive this," senior TMC leader and MP Dinesh Trivedi tweeted.
Trivedi's remark was echoed by TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee who said it is an attempt by the Centre to suppress Bengal's voice.
"Just because Mamata Banerjee has been pointing out the lapses and wrong decisions in implementing the lockdown, she has been blacked out in the meeting. This is an attempt to scuttle democracy and the BJP government's inability to face constructive criticism. We condemn it," he said.
Supporting the Centre's decision of not giving Banerjee the chance to speak, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the state government, apart from seeking funds, has done nothing during the previous meetings between the prime minister and the chief ministers.
"The West Bengal government has been a complete failure in implementing the lockdown in the state. It has been busy in blaming the central government. In previous meetings our chief minister has done nothing apart from seeking funds," Ghosh alleged.
Banerjee during the last virtual meeting between Modi and the chief ministers had slammed the central government for "playing politics" on the issue of COVID-19 by trying to shift the blame on the states and said the onus lies with the Centre to come out with a clear strategy for the way forward.