Bengal, Jan 23: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday rejected to speak at the Centre’s ‘Parakram Divas‘ Netaji event celebrations at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata as she said she felt insulted.
“This is not a party programme. This is an event of the government. All political parties and people are part of this event. The government should have some dignity. Don’t insult me after calling. On protest, I refuse to speak at this event. Jai Hind, Jai Bangla,” Banerjee said and left the stage fuming. However, she thanked PM Modi and the culture ministry for holding the Netaji event in Kolkata.
What irked her before her speech were presumably the chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram‘ and ‘Modi‘ which is why Banerjee mentioned that the programme was not a political one.
Amid the ongoing tussle between the Centre and the West Bengal government ahead of the assembly elections in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee were seen together as PM Modi took a tour at Victoria Memorial ahead of the event.
The celebration of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th the birth anniversary has been a flaring point between the Trinamool and the BJP as the Centre on January 19 announced that from this year January 23 will be celebrated as ‘Parakram Divas‘.
