New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her decision not to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying she was looking for “excuses” to avoid attending the event.
“She got an excuse (for not attending). The decision to invite the kin of BJP workers was of the state unit. The kin were asked if they wished to attend, they can. They expressed their desire to come hence they were invited,” BJP General Secretary and West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya said here at a press conference.
He said Banerjee doesn’t believe in the federal structure and has shown similar behaviour in the past too.
“She was looking for excuses,” he added.
Banerjee earlier announced that she will not attend Modi’s swearing-in on Thursday, alleging the BJP was using the ceremony “to score political points”.
“The oath-taking ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party which uses it as an opportunity to score political points,” Banerjee said in a social media post.
The Trinamool Congress chief’s reaction came after media reports said at least 70 family members of slain Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists in West Bengal had been invited to the ceremony as “special guests”.
Another Trinamool MLA joins BJP
West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress on Wednesday suffered another jolt as one of its prominent Muslim faces and MLA joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Monirul Islam, elected from Labpur constituency, and several office bearers of the Trinamool Congress in Birbhum district joined the saffron camp at the BJP headquarters here in the presence of BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and senior leader Mukul Roy.
They include Gadadhar Hazra, a former Trinamool MLA, Asif Iqbal and Nimai Das. Iqbal and Das are district office bearers of the party.
After their formal induction, Vijayvargiya accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of practising politics of “terror” in the state and claimed she had lost the faith of the people as well party cadres.
“People of West Bengal have now faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they feel he can do all round development of the state,” he said.
On Tuesday, three MLAs — two of the Trinamool and one from the CPI-M — besides over 60 Trinamool councillors joined the BJP here in the wake of the Trinamool’s poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections.
