NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday lost her cool over sloganeering at a Netaji event in Kolkata and refused to give her speech in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mamata had joined PM Modi and Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar at the Victoria Memorial event orgainsed to mark Netaji's birth anniversary.
When it was Mamata's turn to give her speech, a section of the crowd indulged in sloganeering and chanted "Jai Shri Ram."
The organisers requested the crowd to maintain silence and allow Mamata Banerjee to give her speech.
But a furious Mamata took strong exception to this and said "If you invite someone to a govt programme, you should not insult them."
Mamata thanked Prime Minister Modi and the culture ministry for organising Netaji's programme in Kolkata.
The West Bengal chief minister then went on to announce that she will not be giving her speech as a mark of protest against the sloganeering.
"I think government's programmes should have dignity. This is not a programme of any political party ... it is a government programme where people from all parties and religions are involved ... It doesn't suit you to insult someone after inviting them. As a protest, I won't speak anything. Jai Hind, Jai Bangla" Mamata said cutting short her speech.