KOLKATA: On the first day of her third term as West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting free vaccination for all. She has also demanded that the Centre bring transparency to the process of supplying vaccines and oxygen.
Analysts see Mamata’s letter to Modi, right on the first day of her third term, as a move by her to mount pressure on the BJP-led Centre on the issue of the second wave of Covid-19, which dominated her campaigning for elections.
In her two-page letter, Mamata reminded Modi that her communication on February 24 seeking the Centre’s nod to allow the state government to procure vaccines from manufacturers for vaccinating the people of the state free of cost has not yet been addressed.
Demanding allotment of more oxygen, she wrote, “Use of medical oxygen has increased rapidly from 220 MT per day to 400 MT per day now.” Party sources said, after TMC’s victory, Mamata has become the face of anti-BJP forces. “The Centre is being held responsible by the opposition for the spike in Covid cases. She is trying to mobilise anti-BJP sentiment,’’ a party leader said.