Sealdah Metro station to be opened today amid row over invitation to Mamata Banerjee

The Sealdah metro station will be inaugurated on Monday by Union Minister Smriti Irani virtually from Howrah. This takes place amid a controversy over invitation sent to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

With the invitation cards now becoming public, it is clear that the card does not contain the name of the Bengal CM. Kolkata Metro authorities have said that the invitation was sent to Banerjee’s office for the opening of the Sealdah metro station of the East-West Line. A formal invitation was sent to the chief minister’s office (CMO) and local Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay and MLAs Nayana Bandopadhyay and Paresh Pal.

But Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that it was a “last-minute” decision of the organisers to send an invitation to the CM after the matter became public. Bandopadhyay too said that he will not attend the programme because of the way the organisers “invited” the Bengal CM. “Her programme schedule is prepared weeks in advance. The Metro authorities should have consulted with her office before finalising the programme schedule,” Sudip Bandopadhyay said.

Mamata Banerjee is travelling to north Bengal today. According to Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, “They knew about the CM’s planned trip to north Bengal, but still organised it on that day so that she is unable to attend it.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meanwhile hit back at the Trinamool saying that it is a matter related to public convenience and the Trinamool is making an unnecessary hue and cry about it.