Embroiled in a bitter war of words over Cyclone Fani, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she “did not want to share the dais with ‘expiry PM'”, after she was accused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not returning his calls.
At a rally in Tamluk in West Bengal, PM Modi said Mamata Banerjee refused to talk to him when he tried to contact on Cyclone Fani.
“Speedbreaker didi has tried to play politics even on Cyclone Fani. I tried to get in touch with Mamata Didi but her arrogance is such that she refused to talk to me, I tried again but she did not get in touch,” the PM said.
After his address, PM Modi underscored the point in a Hindi tweet later. “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.”
Read | Speed-breaker Didi playing politics on Cyclone Fani, refused to talk to me: PM Modi in Bengal
Soon after, while speaking at a rally from Bengal’s Bishnupur, Mamata Banerjee said, “I don’t want to share dais with expiry PM as elections are on. I don’t consider you as our prime minister. When the next PM comes, I will tell him”.
Mamata clarified that she could not take the call from the PMO as she was in Kharagpur, a town near Kolkata to monitor the ground situation after the cyclone.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi undertook an aerial survey of the districts ravaged by Cyclone Fani in Odisha.
According to PMO sources, the PM also wanted to take stock of the situation in West Bengal which also faced the wrath of cyclone Fani and the Centre had written to the state about a review meeting of the PM with state government officials today.
However, the request was denied and the Mamata government replied that the officials were busy with election duty and hence the review meeting should not be held.
On Sunday, the PMO said two attempts were made on Saturday morning from the prime minister’s staff to connect prime minister to the West Bengal Chief Minister on phone.
“The first time, they were told that the CM is on a tour and the call will be returned. On the second occasion too, it was told by the Chief Minister’s office that the call will be returned,” it said.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) had on Sunday claimed that the PMO did not call West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to inquire about the ground situation after Cyclone Fani hit the state on Saturday rather it called the office of state Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.
The TMC attacked PM Modi, alleging that he did not respect the federal structure of India. It said that even though the PMO had called Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, it did not get in touch with the WB CM, thus “disrespecting” the office of the chief minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to call Mamata “Speed-breaker Didi” at a rally accusing her of coming in the way of the state’s development.
Following this, Mamata named PM Modi “Expiry Babu”, a term which she used to claim that Modi’s tenure has come to an end and will never come back to power.