Kolkata (The Hawk): Friday morning's Vande Bharat Express inaugural event saw controversy break out when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to share the dais after hearing slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" when she arrived.
Instead, she sat on a chair next to the dais the entire time. She then offered her sympathies for the passing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother, Heeraben Modi.
The BJP supporters present shouted "Jai Shri Ram" as soon as the chief minister arrived at the inauguration site at Howrah Station on Friday morning.
Then, while standing on the dais, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made an effort to keep the BJP supporters under control and asked them to stop yelling slogans.
However, the chief minister declined to approach the podium. She was repeatedly urged to join the dais by the railroads minister, but she refused.
As soon as he arrived, state governor C.V. Ananda Bose was observed mingling with the chief minister. She even first declined to give her remarks at the event. But after the governor pleaded with her again, she finally consented to give the address, which she did while standing off the podium.
The chief minister has previously voiced her disapproval of people shouting "Jai Shri Ram" when she arrives. The BJP supporters chanted chants on January 23, 2021, during a celebration of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birthday at Kolkata's Victoria Memorial Hall. Ministers from the Union, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were present. The chief minister noted that any government programme should adhere to certain decorum in response to her outrage over the situation at the moment. "Any invited guest should not be insulted at such a gathering. I thus refrain from commenting here in protest. Jai Bangla, Jai Hind, "On that day, she said.
On Friday morning, a political brawl broke out over the development. Firhad Hakim, the mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the state's minister for municipal affairs and urban development, said, "Saying Jai Shri Ram with a clean mind in a temple or home is recommended. However, the BJP followers are agitating our chief minister by adopting this slogan. We could have stopped them right away if we had wanted to. However, we value political decorum "added he.
The Jai Shri Ram chants were raised when the prime minister appeared online to launch the Vande Bharat Express, according to BJP Lok Sabha member Locket Chatterjee. She claimed that the purpose of the slogans was not to enrage the chief minister.
(Inputs from Agencies)