Centre, WB on collision course over chief secy

The confrontation between the Centre and West Bengal after the Union government issued an order to recall the state’s Chief Secretary, Alapan Bandhopadhyay, worsened on Saturday with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying that the BJP-led government in Delhi is pursuing “vendetta politics”. She claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah are trying to create problems for her government at every step as they are yet to come to terms with the BJP’s defeat in the Assembly elections.

A row broke out between the BJP and TMC over a meeting between the Prime Minister and Ms Banerjee. The BJP has alleged that Ms Banerjee made the PM and governor Jagdeep Dhankhar wait for 30 minutes and then skipped a meeting with him to assess the impact of Cyclone Yaas, choosing instead a quick 15-minute interaction with him at an airbase where his flight landed. She was to attend a cyclone damage review with PM Modi but left after handing him a report.

Hours later the Centre issued an order recalling West Bengal’s Chief Secretary. Mr Bandhopadhyay’s tenure was extended for three months just four days before Friday’s order to recall him to the Centre came. His extension was sought by the West Bengal Chief Minister due to his experience in handling the Coronavirus pandemic. “Because you (Modi and Shah) cannot digest BJP’s defeat (in Bengal), you have started creating problems for us from day one. What is the fault of the Chief Secretary? Recalling the Chief Secretary amid the Covid19 crisis goes on to show that the Centre is indulging in political vendetta,” Ms Banerjee said and added that she was ready to touch Mr Modi’s feet if told to do so for the sake of West Bengal’s growth and development.

Talking about the criticism she faced for skipping the review meeting with Mr Modi on cyclone devastation, Ms Banerjee said, “It was supposed to be held between the PM and the CM. Why were BJP leaders called to the meeting?”