West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday met BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari for the first time since her Nandigram defeat in the West Bengal Assembly election. The leaders met in the West Bengal assembly.
After the meeting, Suvendu said: "I had a 3-4 min long courtesy meeting with CM Mamata Banerjee today. Contesting from Nandigram was not a personal fight against Mamata (Banerjee) Ji, but a political & ideological fight," news agency ANI reported.
According to ABP Ananda, the meeting reportedly lasted for two minutes. Sources tell that CM Banerjee sent a message to Suvendu Adhikari after which the meeting took place.
Suvendu Adhikari was accompanied by two other BJP MLAs Agnimitra Paul and Manoj Tigga.
Speaking on her invitation to the Opposition for the oath ceremony of the Governor, the CM said, "We invited you for the Governor's oath but you all didn't come. In fact, Left leader Biman Bose attended the ceremony, I am thankful to him."
She further said that during the Left regime, the education department was turned into its party office. "During the Left regime, they turned the Dept of Education into their party office. It's difficult for Education Minister to work. Why will you not talk about development?" she said, as per ANI. The remarks came ahead of the assembly session in the state.
Notably, CM Mamata Banerjee conceded defeat from the high-profile seat of Nandigram by her aide-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP in last year’s assembly polls. Earlier reports of the nail-biting contest showed Suvendu Adhikari trailing by 1200 votes, but the tides turned in his favour making him victorious by over 1900 votes.