Ostensibly, she was busy with an “important administrative meeting” in the cyclone affected region but the real reason was her reservation about the presence of her protégé turned rival Suvendu Adhikari with Prime Minister Modi. Adhikari, it may be recalled, had won against Banerjee in the recent elections from Nandigram assembly constituency, though with a slender margin.However, Banerjee met the Prime Minister separately and handed over the report of the damage and the funds required for reconstruction and left before the meeting began.
Expectedly, swords were out: the BJP defended Adhikari’s presence on grounds that he was leader of Opposition in the state assembly: a norm not followed when Modi met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Neither was the leader of Opposition present when Prime Minister Modi visited Gujarat to review the damage caused by cyclone Tauktae. That Adhikari’s presence was less a norm and more scoring a political point against Mamata Banerjee is, therefore, obvious.
True to its grain, the BJP cried foul and came down heavily on Mamata’s absence. Union Minister Amit Shah called her conduct “an unfortunate low” and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said her behavior was “painful”. The common thread: arrogance overrode public welfare and political differences were placed above duty.
The war was not limited to words. The Centre chose to act and it did so rather swiftly. In an unprecedented move, the Centre recalled Bandyopadhyay, who was set to retire on May 31, to the Centre.
A 1987-batch officer Bandyopadhyay, was granted three months extension by the same department, which within days, was summoning him to report back. A close aide of Banerjee, he was reportedly being “punished” for his failure to attend a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the damage caused by the cyclone.
It was therefore no surprise when Banerjee said that her government will not release Bandyopadhyay at this “critical hour”. Actually, she did one better: she appointed Bandyopadhyay as Chief Adviser to the Chief Minister, after Bandyopadhyay chose to retire instead of reporting to Delhi.Banerjee later said that even while she acceded to Bandyopadhyay’s request to let him retire she decided to utilize his services as Chief Adviser. Meanwhile, she shot off a letter to the Prime Minister stating that she was “shocked and stunned” by the transfer through a “unilateral order.
Things got murkier by the minute with the Centre issuing a show cause notice to Bandyopadhyay seeking an explanation for his failure to report to Delhi.
