West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (AFP, file photo)
KOLKATA: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she felt “insulted and humiliated” at the Covid meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi — with chief ministers and district magistrates — because the CMs were made to sit “like puppets”, without being given a chance to speak.
She termed the virtual meeting “casual and a super flop” and alleged Modi tried to “play down” the Covid threat. The PM was feeling “insecure” and trying to hide it by sheer arrogance, she said. “Are we puppets or bonded labour? We were invited to the meeting while the PM interacted with some of the DMs and then gave a speech.
He didn’t have the courtesy to listen to us,” Mamata said after the meeting got over. “The CMs of Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala were present in the meeting. We had many things to ask about the supply of vaccines, oxygen and medicines, but we couldn’t. There are four black fungus cases in the state. Nobody asked us about it.
It is a blatant violation of the federal spirit. All the CMs should come together against such an insult.” Mamata said Modi tried to play down the Covid threat. “The PM said the Covid wave was on the slide. This is what they did after the first wave. You all know how polls were held in eight phases despite our plea to club the phases and how the virus has now spread,” she said.
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