TMC minister to build memorial in honour of Mamata’s mother
KOLKATA: West Bengal agriculture minister Ashis Banerjee intends to build a memorial in honour of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s late mother at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief’s ancestral Chakaipur village.
“It’s local people’s interest that prompted us to plan a memorial around her (Mamata’s) mother. They hope that such a centre will draw people from across the state and the village will turn into a tourist destination,” Ashis said .
Gayatri Banerjee died in December 2011, at the age of 81, seven months after Mamata was sworn in as West Bengal’s chief minister.
The Trinamool Congress minister has planned to build a replica of the chief minister’s thatched house, in which she lived with her parents till 1965. To ensure that the replica model bears close resemblance to the original house, which no longer exists, village elders have been asked to share details of the TMC chief’s childhood home.
“The plan is ready but we will proceed further only after the chief minister gives her nod. I will speak to her in a few days,” Ashis said.
Clarifying that funds from government treasury won’t be used while building the memorial, the state agriculture minister said: “Government funds will not be used in the project. The replica house will be as modest as the original house was”.
Sources in the ruling party said the district Trinamool Congress chief, Anubrata Mondal, had conceived the idea of a memorial in honour of the chief minister’s late mother in 2016 and entrusted Ashis Banerjee with its implementation.
The primary plan involved participation from local panchayats, the zilla parishad (district council) and Tarapith Rampurhat Development Authority (TRDA) in the building of the memorial.