PM unlikely to be present at Bengal biz summit; political mudslinging begins
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: As by now it is almost certain that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip the inaugural session of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2022 on Wednesday morning, political mudslinging has started between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress on this issue.
While on the one hand the Trinamool leadership has alleged that the Prime Minister is 'deliberately' trying to ignore the attempts at industrialisation in West Bengal, the BJP leadership on its part has claimed that no official invitation was sent to the Prime Minister's Office from the state secretariat on this count.
In November last year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had gone to New Delhi where she met the Prime Minister and invited him to attend the inaugural session of BGBS-2022. After the meeting, Banerjee had told mediapersons that the Prime Minister had agreed to be present at the event.
However, till Tuesday noon, the state secretariat has not received any communication from the Prime Minister's Office on this count.
As per PIB's official tour information of the Prime Minister, he is slated to be in his home state Gujarat from April 18 to April 20.
BJP MP and the party's national Vice President, Dilip Ghosh, told mediapersons on Tuesday that since the invitation was just a verbal communication from the Chief Minister, there is no question of the Prime Minister being present at the summit.
"There is a protocol in everything. No official invitation was sent to the Prime Minister's Office from the state government on this count. So there is no question of the Prime Minister coming to attend the summit," said Ghosh.
However, Trinamool leader Jaiprakash Majumdar said that when the Chief Minister had personally gone to Delhi and and invited the Prime Minister, the latter should have honoured that gesture.
"Who is Dilip Ghosh to comment on this? Is he a spokesman for the PMO? The Prime Minister often speaks of developing the nation. In West Bengal not part of his dreams," Majumdar questioned.