PM Modi Remembers Netaji On Anniversary Event, Mamata Refuses To Speak After Slogans Raised Against Her

During the event at Kolkata's Victoria Memorial, CM Mamata Banerjee got angry and even refused to address the gathering for "being disrespected."

PM Modi in Kolkata

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the ancestral house of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Kolkata as he came to the city to take part in the revolutionary's 125th birth anniversary celebrations.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, PM Modi said, "I've always been empowered just by the mention of 'Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose' - the name in any situation. It is our duty to keep remembering his sacrifice and contribution to India. I bow down to the land that made Netaji, he gave a new direction to idea of free India."

"The country has decided that from now we will celebrate Netaji's birth anniversary (January 23) as 'Parakram Divas,' PM Narendra Modi in Kolkata said.

During the event at Kolkata's Victoria Memorial, CM Mamata Banerjee got angry after crowd raised slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" and "Modi, Modi". The Chief Minisyer even refused to address the gathering for "being disrespected."

She took to stage before the scheduled time saying, "I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cultural ministry for the event, but it is not right to invite someone and insult them. This is a governmnet programme, not a political Party's programme. There should be some dignity in government's programme."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>#WATCH</a> | I think Govt&#39;s program should have dignity. This is not a political program....It doesn&#39;t suit you to insult someone after inviting them. As a protest, I won&#39;t speak anything: WB CM Mamata Banerjee after &#39;Jai Shree Ram&#39; slogans were raised when she was invited to speak <a href="https://t.co/pBvVrlrrbb" rel='nofollow'>pic.twitter.com/pBvVrlrrbb</a></p>&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1352945929070886913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>January 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In West Bengal, the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress are engaged in a race to honour the Netaji on the occassion of his 125th birth anniversary.

PM Modi is in Kolkata to address "Parakram Diwas" celebrations to commemorate Bose's birth anniversary.  Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister launched the Assam government's mega programme to distribute land "patta" (land allotment permit) to 1,06,940 landless indigenous people.

While the BJP will be seeking to retain power in Assam, the saffron outfit is building up a campaign in West Bengal to wrest power from the ruling Trinamool Congress.