Mamata Banerjee hits out at PM Modi after meeting, ‘did not let CMs speak, we aren’t puppets’
The PM was feeling “insecure” and trying to hide it by sheer arrogance, she said. “Are we puppets or bonded labour? We were invited to the meeting while the PM interacted with some of the DMs and then gave a speech.
FollowWest Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday described a meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Ministers and district magistrates of 10 states on the Covid situation as “casual and super flop”.
Officials from the Health Ministry and 54 districts including North and South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Nadia, Howrah, Hoogly and East Midnapore also attended the virtual meeting. The other attendees were CMs of 10 states- Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
The PM was feeling “insecure” and trying to hide it by sheer arrogance, she said. “Are we puppets or bonded labour? We were invited to the meeting while the PM interacted with some of the DMs and then gave a speech.
He didn’t have the courtesy to listen to us,” Mamata said after the meeting got over. “The CMs of Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala were present in the meeting. We had many things to ask about the supply of vaccines, oxygen and medicines, but we couldn’t. There are four black fungus cases in the state. Nobody asked us about it.
“Today, the federal structure is being bulldozed. The Centre has time to build massive buildings and statues but has no time to listen to the Chief Ministers. The country is at a critical juncture but the PM is so casual (in his approach). Delhi’s Shahenshah is saying sab theek hai (all is well) when everyday people are dying,” said Banerjee.
Responding to a question on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Banerjee said there is a need to form a team against the BJP. “I don’t know what others will do, but there is a need to form a team against the BJP government at the Centre. It will be a fight between democracy against dictatorship,” she said.
The BJP, however, said Banerjee for politicising the PM’s meeting. “5 out of the 7 District Officials who spoke today belonged to non-BJP ruled states of Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and AP. Cooperative federalism is the firm commitment of PM @narendramodi unlike CM @MamataOfficial who only believes in confrontational federalism,” said Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, in a tweet.
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