Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday questioned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to attend the G20 gala dinner which was hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Saturday. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) slammed Choudhury over these questions and said he didn't need to lecture the Chief Minister about following certain protocols.
Chowdhury while talking to the media said, "When many non-BJP CMs refrained from attending the dinner, Didi (Mamata Banerjee) went to Delhi a day in advance. She attended the occasion with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the same room. I wonder what prompted her to rush all the way to Delhi to be at the dinner party along with these leaders. Is there any other reason behind her attending the occasion?"
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen while hitting out at Chowdhury said that Banerjee is one of the prime movers behind the non-BJP bloc I.N.D.I.A. He said that the state Congress president didn't need to lecture the Chief Minister about following certain protocols from the administrative point of view, reported news agency PTI. He added that everyone knows Mamata Banerjee is one of the architects behind I.N.D.I.A. and no one can question her commitment to it, reported PTI. Sen also said, "Chowdhury will not decide when the Chief Minister of the state will go to attend a dinner on the occasion of G20 as part of the protocol."
The TMC supremo arrived in Delhi on Friday whereas the G20 gala dinner was held on Saturday. As per officials, Banerjee's flight was scheduled for Saturday initially but it later got rescheduled to Friday afternoon due to the regulation of flight movements in the national capital, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya also took a jibe at the Congress on this occasion and said that the grand old party joined hands with the TMC in Delhi against the saffron party and betrayed the people of Bengal who were a 'victim of TMC's terror'. He said, "The Congress itself has joined hands with the corrupt TMC in Delhi. It is the BJP which has remained vocal against the corruption of TMC leaders. ED and CBI are raiding against them. The BJP is with the people of Bengal. So, people like Adhir Choudhury should explain who is actually cosying up to TMC and doing a disservice to the people of the state."