BJP-led Centre pursuing vendetta politics: Mamata to PM Modi after meeting row

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was hurt after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders insulted her on social media platforms for skipping the review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on cyclone Yaas.

Banerjee asked why were BJP leaders, governor called to the cyclone review meeting when it was meant to be between PM and CM, and added that she felt insulted.

The Bengal CM stated that opposition leaders were not invited to similar review meetings held in Gujarat and Odisha, the two states that also faced cyclone fury over the past few days.

The Bengal CM said that Prime Minister's Office insulted her and BJP leaders posted humiliating tweets to tarnish her image.

Banerjee said she was ready to touch Modi's feet if told to do for the sake of West Bengal's growth and development.

"If prime minister asks me to touch his feet for the welfare of Bengal people, I am ready to do that; but I should not be insulted," CM Banerjee said.

Alleging that the BJP government was pursuing "vendetta politics", the Bengal CM urged the prime minister to withdraw its order recalling Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay and allow the senior bureaucrat to work for people amid the coronavirus crisis.

"Because you (Modi and Shah) cannot digest BJP's defeat in (Bengal), you have started creating problems for us from Day one. What is the fault of the chief secretary?

"Recalling the chief secretary amid the Covid crisis goes on to show that the Centre was indulging in political vendetta," she asserted.

She lashed out at PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and claimed they were trying to create problems for her government at every step as they were yet to come to terms with BJP's defeat in the assembly elections.

"Don't insult me like this, don't defame Bengal. My CS, HS, and FS are attending meetings all the time, they are working for the Centre, when will they do the state job. Don't you think it's a political vendetta," Banerjee added.