CM Banerjee unmoved by event cancellation
St Stephen's College had cancelled address by Ms Banerjee.
Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday hinted at a BJP hand behind the cancellation of her programme at St Stephen’s college in New Delhi, but said she was unmoved by it as she would have a packed schedule during her visit to the national capital.
The Trinamul Congress (TMC) chief also said god would forgive “them” for this.“Let it be cancelled, I don’t mind. Let god save them. I have some other programmes also,” she said when asked whether the cancellation of her programme at the prestigious college was an insult to the chief minister’s chair.
The college cited procedural norms last week and cancelled an address by Ms Banerjee to the students of the institute, which was scheduled for August 1.
Ms Banerjee said besides attending a programme hosted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), she would be visiting lawyer-politician Ram Jethmalani at his residence in the national capital. “I will be attending the Bishop (CBCI) programme tomorrow in the afternoon. That is a big programme. In the evening, I will be visiting Jethmalani at his residence, where Yashwant Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha, Arun Shourie will be coming. So, I will be very busy,” she told reporters at the state secretariat here, before leaving for New Delhi.
Ms Banerjee said she would be visiting the TMC office in Parliament on August 1.On whether there was any possibility of a one-on-one meeting with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the TMC chief, who has floated the idea of a federal front to take on the BJP in the 2019 general election, said she would try to meet her if there was an opportunity.
“Soniaji is not well...She is having flu or something. If I get the opportunity, I will meet her,” she said.The chief minister, who reached New Delhi in the evening, was likely to meet and invite leaders for a joint Opposition rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata, a senior TMC leader said.
Ms Banerjee is scheduled to return to Kolkata on Thursday, a source at the chief minister’s office said.