Mamata snubbed in Kolkata? Piyush Goyal & Babul Supriyo to headline metro inauguration

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's name has been found to be missing from the invitation poster for the inauguration of Phase I of East-West Metro corridor between Salt Lake Sector-V to Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday. In the card, Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Babul Supriyo have been invited for the inauguration ceremony. The metro line is scheduled to be flagged off at 5 pm.

TMC MP and MLA to boycott the function

Fuming over the decision, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress has decided to protest against the denial of invitation to Mamata with a senior party MP and an MLA deciding to boycott the function, sources said. Senior TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and MLA Sujit Bose have decided not to attend the programme, they said. 

"The East-West Metro corridor project was the brainchild of Mamata Banerjee during her tenure as Railway minister from 2009-2011. It was she who had sanctioned the money in Railway budget. Now, when the project is being inaugurated she has not been invited. This is an insult to the people of Bengal," Dastidar told PTI.

Apart from Goyal and Supriyo, state minister for Fire and Emergency Services Sujit Bose and Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar are expected to attend the programme. The development comes as Banerjee has been at loggerheads with the central government over several issues, including CAA and NRC. The TMC supremo has taken out marches and protests against CAA and NRC and said they will not be implemented in West Bengal. 

On Wednesday, Mamata Banerjee had alleged that nationalised banks and post offices were being “used” by the BJP-led Central Government to collect data through “surveys” in West Bengal in order to “manipulate” the CAA-NRC-NPR. Mamata Banerjee made the accusation while addressing an administrative meeting in Bankura.

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Surveys are being done without state govt's permission'

According to officials, she said such a survey by central government undertakings must "stop immediately", without elaborating where and when such an exercise happened. TMC chief said surveys are being done without the state government's permission.

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"The banks and post offices are doing this without taking the name of BJP...they are visiting houses to conduct the survey. They cannot do this without the state government''s permission... Do not give any information to anyone. We will not allow this. We have to strongly handle this," she told top state officials at the meeting.

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(With agency inputs)