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Mamata won’t talk to expiry-PM


Bangladeshpost
Published : 06 May 2019 09:08 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 08:53 PM

A big political storm erupted on Monday over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not returning two phone calls from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said he had tried to speak to her over the state’s preparation for tackling the cyclonic storm ‘Fani. After Modi accused Mamata of "playing politics" over cyclone, the latter hit back on Monday at an election rally saying she has not returned the Prime Minister’s phone calls to discuss cyclone Fani as she "does not want to share dais with expiry-PM".

At a poll rally in West Bengal's Tamluk, Modi said he had tried to dial Mamata before the cyclone hit the state as he felt "worried" about the people of Bengal.
"I tried to talk to Mamata Didi before the cyclone hit but such was her arrogance that she refused to talk to me," said the Prime Minister who held an aerial survey of the affected areas in West Bengal’s neighbouring state Odisha and met its Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday morning. Modi commended the efforts of Patnaik government to cope with “Fani.”

Later, Modi took to the twitter saying "I waited, expecting her to call me back. But she did not. Still, I called her again. I was worried about the people of Bengal, and wanted to speak to Mamata Didi. But Didi did not speak to me the second time either," it read. Speaking at a rally in West Bengal's Bishnupur, Mamata said she could not take the call as she was in Kharagpur, a town near Kolkata, to monitor the ground situation while the Prime Minister was out campaigning.

However, she sid “I don't want to share dais with expiry-PM as elections are on". The "expiry PM" is the phrase she used to underscore her claim that the Prime Minister's term in office has expired and he won't return to power in the parliamentary polls. The controversy was triggered a couple of days ago by Indian media reports that Mamata was upset that Modi had called West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and not her to get feedback on the state's preparedness ahead of the cyclone.

Officials of the Prime Minister's Office said today that they had tried twice to talk to Mamata about the possibility of a review meeting, like in Odisha, but West Bengal officials declined, saying Mamata was busy campaigning in electioneering.