‘Passionate, inspiring’, Lord Bilimoria lauds Mamata’s ‘speech’ at Oxford

Kolkata: Lord Karan Bilimoria, a British-Indian businessman and member of the House of Lords, who hosted Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee at Kellogg College, Oxford University, on March 27, dubbed CM’s address ‘passionate & inspiring’ and described the event as a huge success in a television interview.

He praised Banerjee’s handling of a “minor disruption” during the event, noting that while “the vast majority of attendees hugely benefited from the Chief Minister’s talk,” a brief interruption by a small group of six to seven individuals left the larger audience “unhappy”.

Bilimoria remarked that Banerjee is one of the most powerful women in the world and people heard her with great enthusiasm and learnt about her government’s development trajectory. “They were inspired by her speech,” he said.

“Chief Minister Banerjee is a unique individual. She is one of the most powerful women in the world. She had been the youngest MP and she was elected in her 20’s. She had been MP and Cabinet minister under the Central government. She has been serving as Chief Minister for 15 years. Over 300 people signed up. Not only from Oxford, people from all over the country came to listen to the Chief Minister,” Bilimoria said, adding: “She made a very passionate speech about the areas that matter to her ranging from social development, women and child development. Everyone was eager to listen to what she had to say.”

He said that Kellogg College was the largest college under Oxford in terms of its students’ strength.

On the minor disruption, he said: “Unfortunately, some people protested at the back of the hall. The rest of the audience was unhappy and they said to the protestors that they were here to listen to Banerjee. I also intervened and told them if they could keep quiet. I also urged them not to disrupt the meeting. It continued for a while and then they left. The audience also told them to leave.”

Bilimoria also appreciated the way Banerjee handled the situation.

“It was impressive how Banerjee handled the situation. We had taken many precautions and there was adequate security. I was told that they were SFI UK. They were eventually escorted out. We were not prepared for any disruption. They brought folded papers. One can have his/her opinion but I don’t think that one should disrupt a lecture. I personally apologised to Banerjee.”