Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has again been denied permission by the Centre for a foreign visit, this time to neighboring country: Nepal. She was invited by Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to attend the annual conference of his party, Nepali Congress, starting from Friday, according to sources. The event will end on December 12.
According to state government sources, a permission was sought from the ministry of external affairs (MEA) which however reportedly objected to it on the grounds of the purpose of the invitation to the CM and her plans of visit. The Trinamul Congress supremo earlier was prevented by the MEA from visiting Rome to attend a global event on peace in October this year.
Lashing out at the BJP, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh alleged, "It is true that the Centre did not give permission to the CM for her Nepal visit on an invitation. This is nothing but revenge and vindictiveness of the BJP which can not do anything on its own. Moreover people have started rejecting them. At the international stage, India under their rule are getting discriminated against. If an alternative leader is invited overseas, they get jealous. So it reflects how much the BJP is scared of Ms Banerjee and her growing popularity abroad."
State BJP vice president Joyprakash Majumdar claimed, "In such cases, the decision of the MEA is final. There is no politics behind it. When a CM goes on a foreign visit, he or she represents the country, not a party. So the foreign policy, present situation and rules of the MEA become important. It must have taken the decision for a logical purpose. It is better not to see politics in it and follow it."
He added, "I will ask the TMC leaders not to play politics over everything including military and border security force and the foreign policy of the government because the nation gets involved there. It is a different issue when you indulge in politics within the country. All political parties understand this. But the TMC understands this a bit less."
