Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday complained that state chief ministers were reduced to being puppets and not allowed to speak at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting on the COVID-19 situation with district magistrates and officials despite being invited.
The Bharatiya Janata Party however hit back at Chief Minister Banerjee, with Union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad condemning her outburst and alleging that she tried to derail Prime Minister Modi's meeting with district magistrates.
Alleging that the Prime Ministers meeting was a 'super flop', Banerjee said that she along with her counterparts from many states were not allowed to speak, which was akin to insulting them.
She also claimed that only CMs of the BJP-ruled states were allowed to speak at the meeting, while others were 'reduced to puppets'.
The prime minister's interaction was a planned event with 54 district magistrates on the COVID-19 situation.
However, chief ministers from 10 states, including those from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, where these officers are posted, were also invited.
"This was a casual and super flop meeting. Only CMs of BJP-ruled states were allowed to speak and others were reduced to (being) puppets.
"We feel insulted and humiliated. This is an attempt to bulldoze the federal structure of the country. PM Modi is so insecure that he did not listen to us," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat 'Nabanna'.
Prasad, however, told newspersons in Delhi, "She (Banerjee) rarely attends meetings called by the prime minister and today, she tried to derail the meeting between the prime minister and the district magistrates."
The Union Minister termed Banerjee's behaviour as 'shameful' and 'least expected' from a chief minister.
"If the prime minister is talking to district magistrates on good work done by them in their districts and sharing their good practices with others, what is wrong with that?" he asked.
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari also joined the counter-attack on his former mentor, tweeting today our respected CM has once again shown her total disinterest in administration.
True to her style, she has politicised a meeting Hon'ble PM held with district officials, where grassroot level practices to fight COVID-19 were being discussed.
West Bengal state BJP president Dilip Ghosh also accused the chief minister of failure to tackle the pandemic in time.
"The healthcare infrastructure in the state is in shambles and to hide that she is blaming the central government, the prime minister or the state of Uttar Pradesh," Ghosh said in a virtual press conference in Kolkata.
Central government officials, who did not wish to be named, also alleged that Banerjee did not let the DM of 24 North Pargana district in West Bengal speak at the meeting with Modi to create a 'drama' later.
Officials noted that DMs from opposition-ruled states like Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Rajasthan and Maharashtra spoke in the interaction.
Banerjee however complained that the prime minister neither asked how West Bengal is handling the COVID situation nor enquired about the stock situation of vaccines or oxygen.
Referring to the PM's claim that the COVID-19 caseload is reducing in the country, Banerjee asked, "If the total number of cases is declining, why are so many deaths due to the coronavirus infection being reported."
On incidents of bodies of suspected Covid patients in Uttar Pradesh thrown into the waters of the Ganges, the chief minister asked how many central teams were sent to that state.
"Namami Gange Programme is turned into dead Ganga. People are scared to step into the waters of the Ganges. They are polluting the entire country," she said.
"There is no reply where to get the Remdesivir medicine which is not available in the market.... They are not providing money to the states and manufacturing big buildings and statues," she alleged.
Banerjee also said she had plans to ask him (PM) to give us vaccines, but we did not get the scope to speak, adding that the state requires a total of 10 crore vaccines whereas only three crore was provided by the central government.
Separately, the chief minister also wrote to Prime Minister Modi, urging him to provide at least 20 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine for inoculation of all state and central government employees.
Banerjee, in her letter, also said the Centre's policies have 'no room to accommodate the needs' of people who run greater risk of contracting the viral disease, including bankers, railway and airport employees, and those working in defence or coal sectors.
