West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee delivered an aggressive speech in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a virtual programme where the PM inaugurated the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI). Invited to speak after the opening remarks by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Banerjee also claimed that she had already inaugurated the second campus during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Thank you to the anchor, at least you have forgotten my title also. That’s okay. Or you became nervous. I participated in this program for the Prime Minister because he is virtually inaugurating this project. Hon’ble health minister called me twice……The prime minister himself took interest in this program. I want to tell him for his knowledge that we have already inaugurated this (second campus of CNCI). How did we do that? When there was COVID and we needed a COVID care center, and I saw the Chittaranjan hospital was attached with the state government, and we converted it to a COVID-care center and it helped us a lot. The PM will be happy to know that we are also contributing 25 per cent of the cost from the state’s fund,” she claimed.
Reacting to the CM’s remarks, BJP leader Amit Malviya said that Banerjee should understand the difference between a Covid center and a cancer hospital. He said that the West Bengal CM is in for a needless confrontation with the Centre.
“Mamata Banerjee is incorrigible. Notwithstanding the fact that she is on path of constant, needless confrontation, she must realize that inaugurating a building as Covid facility is NOT the same as inaugurating a Cancer facility in a hospital. Imagine what Bengal has to suffer!” said Malviya.
The 400-bed tertiary cancer care center has been built at a cost of Rs 534 crore.
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