KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said she told Rahul Gandhi when he called her two days ago that no one had invited her to the INDIA bloc meeting at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge which was cancelled later.
The Bengal CM made it clear that she would attend the opposition bloc’s next meet but added that alliance partners should be informed at least seven to 10 days prior to it.
“Rahulji called me day before yesterday and told me about the meeting. I told him that nobody told me and I had no information about the meeting. I had my scheduled programme. It is also true for other chief ministers. Sometimes, they also have to follow their scheduled programmes. It is difficult for them if they are not informed about the meeting seven or 10 days ago,” said Mamata at the Kolkata airport before setting out on her six-day north Bengal tour.
In response to Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh’s statement in Parliament that the Bengal CM should directly meet Narendra Modi over the issue of Bengal’s dues from the Centre, Mamata also said that she would shortly meet the Prime Minister.
“Earlier, I met the Prime Minister three times protesting against deprivation of Bengal by the Centre. I have written letters to him as well. We have planned our Delhi Chalo programme and sought permission from Delhi police for a sit-in-demonstration event. We are waiting for the permission. When we go to Delhi, we will seek time from the Prime Minister for the meeting,” she added.
After the Congress’s debacle in the elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan, it was Mamata who lambasted it first, saying this was a defeat of the party not the people. She also blamed the Congress for not sharing seats with partners of the INDIA bloc, which has been formed to combat the BJP in next year’s Lok Sabha polls.