A major controversy erupted after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was allegedly "not invited" by the Kolkata Metro Railway authorities in an inauguration programme of a new line connecting Asia’s busiest station at Sealdah to Sector 5 in Salt Lake.
Union Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the project during which only local Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay was invited. Bandopadhyay skipped the programme alleging lack of courtesy on the part of the Railway authorities by not inviting the Chief Minister.
While the BJP claimed that she was indeed invited to the programme a subsequent invitation card sent to her house showed no mention of the Chief Minister. It only contained the names of the Union Minister and the local MP and MLA.
“This is highly indecent … you do not show respect to high dignitaries like this … they have no regards for the protocol even,” said Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim who is also the Kolkata Mayor and who was also extended the invitation the way Mamata was invited.
Incidentally the Chief Minister was presently in North Bengal. “They were trying to find a time when she will be out of Kolkata to organise the show but the people know how the Chief Minister played a big role in implementing the project,” said Hakim.
Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury however said that the project was actually inaugurated by then Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee in 2009.
“In fact this was not the Railway’s project then and Mamata Banerjee after becoming the Railway Minister arm-twisted the authorities to make it a part of the Indian Railways … in any case if at all she has to be invited then why not Buddha Babu who is the real architect behind the project,” the Congress leader said.
Union Minister Irani while addressing the audience during the inauguration programme said how Modi’s vision was taking India and Bengal ahead.
Apparently countering the Chief Minister’s repeated claims that the Centre was depriving it of funds Irani said “under the able guidance of the Prime Minister Centre has sent Rs 8,000 crore to Bengal for its development in the past 8 years and has constructed 3,665 km of highways in the State … his schemes has enabled people to get free ration for 25 months and about 72 lakh people of Bengal have benefited from it.”