Mamata indulging in politics amid crisis caused by cyclone, COVID-19: Dilip Ghosh

KOLKATA: Alleging that Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "has no respect for the prime minister's chair", state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Sunday claimed that she skipped a review meeting on cyclone devastation for "political reasons", notwithstanding the fact that people are reeling under crisis.

Ghosh, while talking to reporters in Kharagpur, said that the CM has violated constitutional norms, and "everyone, by now, is aware of the kind of language and words she uses for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah".

"She is indulging in politics even as the people of state are reeling under crisis caused by the cyclone and the COVID-19 pandemic.

We know how she entered the meeting room, where the PM was present, how she talked, and then left with the chief secretary," the BJP leader stated.

Reacting to Ghosh's comments, senior TMC MLA Tapas Roy said, "There is little point in trying to counter the charges made by Ghosh, who now has little importance in his party.

"However, since he has made certain observations, let me say that it is the BJP that is politicising the cyclone devastation and COVID situation," he said.

Echoing him, TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh said the BJP, after its drubbing in assembly elections, is looking for ways to discredit the Mamata Banerjee government.

Asserting that the BJP-led Centre was pursuing "vendetta politics", the CM on Saturday said Modi and Shah were trying to create problems for her government at every step as they were yet to come to terms with BJP's defeat in the assembly polls.

She also sought to know why opposition BJP leaders were invited to her review meeting with the PM on cyclone devastation, further stating that she felt insulted at the gesture.