Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced the setting up of a five-member task force to manage state affairs in her absence during her London visit while accusing the BJP and the Left of attempting to tarnish the state’s image on the global stage.
Banerjee formed a five-member task force and a group of ministers (GOM). The task force comprises Home secretary Nandini Chakraborty, additional chief secretaries Vivek Kumar and Prabhat Mishra, director general of police Rajeev Kumar and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma.
A group of senior ministers namely Chandrima Bhattacharya, Shashi Panja, Sujit Bose, Aroop Biswas and Firhad Hakim will coordinate with bureaucrats to ensure the smooth running of the government. “I might be abroad but both chief secretary Manoj Pant (who is accompanying me) and I will be available over the phone in case of any emergency. The party (TMC) affairs will be looked after by Subrata Bakshi and Abhishek Banerjee,” she added.
Meanwhile, Banerjee said : “When we visited Singapore, a false narrative was spread about us, as if ‘Bangla’ itself carried a negative connotation. People need to realise that if Maharashtra is India’s financial capital, Bengal is its cultural heartland.”
Accusing her political opponents of circulating “defamatory emails” about her government, Banerjee said: “Such messages reached us from abroad as well. Do our adversaries think we have no connections outside India? Maligning Bengal’s reputation will not be tolerated. You can insult me if you wish but do not insult Mother Bengal. Jealousy has no medicine. The only answer is the people’s verdict. Tricks may work for sometime but won’t last long”.
She called them ‘Ganashatru’ (public enemy) and alleged that left-wing, ultra left-wing factions and communal forces were working together against her government.
“They may seem different but they share the same agenda,” she said, asserting that there can be political differences but no leader should malign the other in the run-up to his or her foreign visit since the person will represent the country.
“The voting process is monitored by the Chief Election Commissioner. There is deployment of the central force. There is no rigging.Only mischief-makers trying to stoke unrest,” she said.
Banerjee is scheduled to leave for London on March 22. She will attend a meeting of the India High Commission on March 24.
On March 25, there will be a meeting regarding follow up of the investment proposals associated with the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) held last month where 40 countries attended. On March 26, there will be a government to government (G2G) meeting and on March 27 she will deliver a lecture at Oxford University where she will speak on women’s empowerment. She is set to return to Kolkata between March 28-29. The Centre had approved her visit last week.