Kolkata, Sep 10: Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury on Sunday questioned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to attend the dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on the occasion of G20 meet in New Delhi, asking if that would not weaken her stance against the Narendra Modi government.
The state Congress president also wondered whether there was “any other reason” for the Trinamool Congress supremo to take part in the programme. The TMC hit back at Choudhury, saying that Banerjee is one of the prime movers behind the non-BJP bloc INDIA and the Congress leader did not need to lecture her about certain protocols to be followed from the administrative point of view. “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 in the dinner party along with these leaders,” Choudhury told reporters here. Banerjee went to Delhi on Friday, while the dinner party was held the next day. Choudhury asked, “Is there any other reason behind her attending the occasion?” Reacting to his statement, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said everyone knows Mamata Banerjee is one of the architects behind INDIA and none can question her commitment. “Choudhury 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,” Sen said. (PTI)
