Kolkata, March 8 In response to the unprecedented verbal confrontation between Mamata Banerjee and President Droupadi Murmu, and the subsequent political and administrative fallout, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday of “insulting” the country’s highest constitutional authority, in turn responding to Modi’s criticism of the TMC government.
To support her claim, Banerjee presented a photograph of Prime Minister Modi seated alongside veteran BJP leader LK Advani, with President Murmu standing next to them.
The photograph purportedly shows the March 2024 event where President Murmu awarded Advani the Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian honour, at his residence in New Delhi.
“The picture shows that the Prime Minister was seated while the President was standing. We never do that. It is the BJP that has the habit of disrespecting the President, not us,” she stated, presenting the photograph as “evidence.”
Earlier in the day, Modi had criticised the TMC government over the treatment of President Murmu, stating that the “enlightened people” of the state would never forgive the party for “insulting” a tribal leader and the President of the country.
Modi’s remarks followed President Murmu’s expressed displeasure over the change of venue for a conference of the tribal Santal community in the north Bengal town of Siliguri and the absence of Banerjee and her cabinet ministers during her visit.
Speaking from the platform of the ongoing anti-SIR dharna in central Kolkata, Banerjee asserted that there was no breach of protocol at the President’s programme, adding that the responsibility for any mismanagement at the function lay with its private organizers and the Airports Authority of India, who provided the venue.
“The Prime Minister had tweeted on Saturday, and I responded. I said the programme was not organized by the state, but by a private organization. The state had sent a letter stating that the private body lacked the capability to organize such an event. They did not involve us,” she said.
Despite the information that the organizers were incapable, the President made the choice to accept the invitation, the chief minister said.
“How can we be held responsible for the allegation that people did not attend the event? The responsibility lies with the organization that planned it. They never asked us to send our people to the venue, except providing us with information about the function,” Banerjee said.
She was speaking just before the Centre-set 5 pm deadline for the state government to respond to the “violations” of the rules related to protocol, venue, and route arrangements during the President’s visit ended.
It was not immediately clear whether the state had officially provided its response, although Banerjee had taken to social media platforms on Saturday to share official documents supporting her claims.
“I have checked the complaints about the washrooms, and I can confirm that the President was holding her function at a venue under the jurisdiction of the Airports Authority of India. The green room was set up by the organizers. Amit Shah held a meeting at the same venue a few days ago. If anything went wrong there, it’s their failure. Don’t blame us,” Banerjee continued.
Besides expressing her anguish at not finding either the chief minister or any of her ministers to receive her at the Bagdogra Airport, where the President arrived to attend an international tribal conference, Murmu had also expressed her displeasure over the change of venue of her event near Siliguri.
“We give full respect to the office (of the President) and the Constitution, which we treat as our mother. You are targeting Bengal ahead of the assembly elections by saying whatever pleases you. Why? Why? Why?” Banerjee said, without specifying exactly who she referred to.
“We did not choose the venue, you did,” she added.
Defending her stand that no protocols were breached, the chief minister said the mayor of Siliguri, Goutam Deb, was present to receive Murmu at Bagdogra.
“I am sitting in a dharna and fighting to protect people’s rights. How can I leave? I wasn’t even aware of your arrival before this dharna. We are fighting for all, irrespective of their religion or any other identity. This is my priority since it involves thwarting people’s fundamental rights,” Banerjee maintained.
She also criticised Modi for allegedly criticising her for observing International Women’s Day.
“The PM questions our Women’s Day celebrations. Of course, we will celebrate. We shower our respect on both our brothers and sisters. They run our country, our society, our families. You have no right to criticise us for celebrating Women’s Day,” she said.