Mamata criticises Centre for fixing Niti Aayog meeting on Eid
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the Centre for fixing Niti Aayog meeting on Eid on Saturday and made it clear that she could not compromise with the interests of the minorities.
The governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog was originally scheduled in Delhi on Saturday, June 16. The meeting was later rescheduled on June 17.
The Bengal chief minister is expected to reach Delhi on Saturday evening.
Banerjee expressed her inability to attend the meeting due to her preoccupations on Eid. The meeting of the governing council will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Why do they fix important meetings of Eid? I told them I could not attend it,” the chief minister said at Eid congregation on Red Road in Kolkata on Saturday morning.
Though she did not name any party or leader, it was clear that she was targeting the saffron camp. “Sometimes they abuse me for loving Muslims. I indeed love them. But in order to love the Hindus, why do you hate the Muslims?” she told a rapturous crowd.
According to the 2011 census, while Hindus constitute 70.54% off Bengal’s population, Muslims form 27.01%, a section that Mamata Banerjee is accused of aggressively pursuing by the principal opposition party BJP.
Every year, the Trinamool Congress chief attends Iftar parties accompanied by some of her party colleagues and the Eid congregation on Red Road that is the biggest gathering on the day in the state. “I told them Eid may not be on your calendar, but it is certainly on mine. We celebrate Eid every year. If it’s not on your calendar, you should change it. Our Muslim brothers are our people and on Eid day, I will not leave the celebrations on Red Road and go anywhere,” she said. “If there is a puja at my home and somebody asks me to visit, I will not. It will never happen that I will not wish our brothers on Eid.”
KOLKATA: WEST BENGAL CM MAMATA BANERJEE EXPRESSED HER INABILITY TO ATTEND THE MEETING DUE TO HER PREOCCUPATIONS ON THE DAY OF EID