Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has finally ended her silence on the "Corona Express" remark which BJP's Amit Shah attributed to her during his virtual rally two days ago. The coinage, which targeted the special trains for migrant labourers, would bring about her political downfall, he said.
Today, the Chief Minister issued a rejoinder.
"I never said Corona Express. I said the public is saying it. You can see my original statement. I said the public said," said Ms Banerjee, who has been at loggerheads with the Centre over the migrant trains.
Over the last three months, there have been controversies over the trains allowed into Bengal, with the state BJP alleging that Ms Banerjee's government withheld permission which was mandatory at the time. Soon after, the Centre scrapped the rule that made the permission of the receiving state mandatory.
During the address live streamed on Facebook today, Ms Banerjee said, "The train services have been kept closed because of one reason -- so that people are not packed closely into a small space as the corona infection may spread". Her intention, she said, has been "misunderstood" by all.
Blaming the Centre for the plight of the migrants, the Chief Minister said, "If you had for run the Shramik Express trains for seven days and sent them home before announcing lockdown, then these shramiks (labourers) would not have suffered for three months".
The Centre she said, should learn from the state in this matter. "The migrants here did not want to go anywhere," the Chief Minister added.
