A fresh controversy erupted in West Bengal on May 28 after Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of skipping the Cyclone Yaas review meeting attended by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, among other BJP leaders.
Banerjee, however, said that she met the PM and left for another review meeting. She attended the meeting for 15 minutes and left after handing over the documents related to damage to the Prime Minister, sources said.
After having review meetings in Hingalganj & Sagar, I met the Hon’ble PM in Kalaikunda & apprised him regarding the post-cyclone situation in WB. The disaster report has been handed over for his perusal. I’ve proceeded now to review the relief & restoration work at Digha.— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 28, 2021
Banerjee arrived late for meeting and left within minutes of handing over the related documents, sources said. Both the CM and the Chief Secretary of West Bengal, sources said, did not come to receive the PM despite being present in the same premises.
The PM, West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Union Ministers, including Dharmendra Pradhan, they said, waited for 30 minutes for the representatives from West Bengal government to show up.
Earlier in the day, the PM landed at Kalaikunda airbase after conducting an aerial survey in Odisha and West Bengal. The review meeting scheduled between 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm at Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur district was the first in-person meeting between the PM Modi and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee after the assembly elections that brought Banerjee back to power for the third time in a row.
Many BJP leaders targeted the CM for 'skipping' the meeting.
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is at her petulant best. Nandigram defeat at the hands of Shri Suvendu Adhikari is still rankling her. Today, when PM reviews damage by Yaas, along with H’ble Governor, central ministers and leader of opposition in WB, she will skip for petty politics...— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) May 28, 2021
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar who attended the meeting said confrontational stance helped no one.
It would have served interests of state and its people for CM and officials @MamataOfficial to attend Review Meet by PM.Confrontational stance ill serves interests of State or democracy.
Non participation by CM and officials not in sync with constitutionalism or rule of law.
— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) May 28, 2021
Union Minister from Bengal Debashree Chaudhury and Leader of Opposition in Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari were also invited for the meeting. Banerjee, sources said, was irked with the decision to invite Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, her former aide who switched to the BJP, to the cyclone review meet scheduled with the state administration today.
PM had called meeting. We didn't know I had meeting in Digha. I went to Kalaikunda & gave PM report, asking for Rs 20,000 Cr- Rs 10,000 cr each for Digha Development & Sundarban Development. I told him you (state's officials) wanted to meet me. I took his permission & left: WB CM pic.twitter.com/06roJuKVNN— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2021
Earlier, PM Modi visited Odisha and West Bengal to review the situation arising out of Cyclone Yaas. He undertook an aerial survey of the cyclone affected areas in Bhadrak and Baleswar districts of Odisha, and Purba Medinipur in West Bengal.
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