CM: I have not received any invitation

Sep 22, 2010 - Age Correspondents |

Kolkata

One important name is missing from railway minister Mamata Banerjee’s guest list for the foundation stone laying ceremony of a Metro line between Joka and BBD Bag: that of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. “I have not received any invitation,” he himself informed the media on Tuesday evening.

State transport minister Ranjit Kundu was invited but he refused to attend. “It was fifteen minutes after I left at 4 pm that I received a call from my office at Writers’ Buildings informing me about the arrival of an invitation card. This last minute invitation is an insult to the state government and I will certainly not attend the programme,” an angry Mr Kundu said. Besides Mr Kundu, chief secretary Ardhendu Sen and home secretary Samar Ghosh have also been invited.
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will lay the foundation stone of the project at Joka. Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and six Trinamul Congress junior ministers and governor M.K. Narayanan are other dignitaries will be present on the occasion. A close aide said that Ms Banerjee’s deep antipathy towards the chief minister and her aversion to share stage with him were the main reason why he was not invited.
Ms Banerjee has not invited either Mr Bhattacharjee or any other senior CPI(M) minister for any railway programme since May, 2009. Both the railway minister and chief minister have been invited for the dinner which will be hosted at Raj Bhavan for the President. It is not clear who will not turn up: Mr Bhattacharjee or Ms Banerjee. Or both will attend but ensure that they do not bump into each other like they did on the occasion of former governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s farewell party. Meanwhile, the President arrived in the city on Tuesday evening. She was received by the governor and chief minister.

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