Mamata invited to Time Magazine dinner for who's who

[1]

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the world, has been invited by the publication to a gala dinner with the who's who in New York on April 24.

"It will be a gala black tie formal dinner where the who's who will be present. The invitation was received by the chief minister's office yesterday (Friday)," a source close to the chief minister said on Saturday.

But the chief minister is unlikely to attend it. "She is unlikely to make the trip to New York because of her work schedule in Bengal," Trinamool Congress spokesperson and the party MP Derek O'Brien said.

The chief minister has a pre-scheduled programme of inaugurating development projects at Maoist-hit Lalgarh in West Midnapore district on the day, secretariat sources said.

Banerjee shares space on the Time Magazine's list with US President Barack Obama, billionaire investor Warren Buffet, Pakistan's first Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.