KOLKATA: Irked by the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan at the virtual inauguration event of West Bengal’s first Vande Bharat Express by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to share the stage at Howrah station.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was present at the event, was seen trying to control the BJP supporters and requested them to refrain from shouting slogans. He pleaded with Mamata and requested her to come on the dais which she refused.
Governor CV Ananda Bose was seen interacting with Mamata. The Bengal CM even refused to deliver a speech. But, however, following repeated requests from the governor, Mamata delivered a brief speech expressing her condolences over the death of Modi’s mother.
A political slugfest erupted over the issue of the slogan. Firhad Hakim, a minister in Mamata’s cabinet, said the BJP supporters deliberately shouted the slogan to irritate the chief minister. ‘’Jai Shri Ram should be said in a temple or house with a pure mind. But the BJP supporters are using this slogan to irritate our chief minister. Had we wanted we could have stopped them immediately. But we believe in political courtesy,’’ he said.
This is not the first time Mamata expressed her discontent over raising the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan. In 2021, on the occasion of celebrating the birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, where Modi and other Union ministers were present, BJP supporters raised the slogan as soon as Mamata appeared on the stage. Expressing her displeasure, Mamata said the government programme should follow certain decorum. ‘’It is unexpected to insult any invited person at such an event. So, in protest, I refuse to say anything here. Jai Hind. Jai Bangla,’’ she said in her brief address.
The event took a political turn as soon as the BJP supporters shouted the slogan and in retaliation, TMC supporters shouted Trinamool Congress zindabad (long live TMC).
Throughout the programme, Mamata sat on a chair adjacent to the dais. ‘’I express my condolences over the demise of Heeraben Modi, the mother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sir, I would like to request you to show your love for your mother through your act,’’ she said in her brief speech.
BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said the slogan was raised when the Prime Minister appeared online to inaugurate the express train. ‘’The slogan was not raised to irritate the chief minister. No one should find politics in it,’’ she said.