Mamata Banerjee attacks Centre over no national holiday on Dec 25

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday fired a fresh salvo against the Centre while inaugurating the Christmas Festival on Park Street.

She began by questioning the intent of the BJP-run Central government behind the cancellation of December 25 as a national holiday. "It is still not clear to me why this kind of decision was taken. I would like to listen to the logic behind it, if there is any. We in Bengal, however, have declared it as a holiday. I still believe that Centre should roll back its decision," she said.

She then said that the tableaux from Bengal during the Republic Day parade had won first prizes on two occasions, but two recent proposals have been rejected by the Centre. "Last year, our proposed theme was Kanyashree, which had been appreciated worldwide, but was not accepted by the Centre. It is an insult to the people of Bengal. This year, we had proposed 'Ekotai Sompriti' (Unity is harmony) and we complied with all their suggestions, but it was rejected," Mamata said.

She said that she had always participated in all the festivals of different religions but in other states people are lynched because they follow other faiths. "What we are seeing is that leaders are out to divide people on the basis of religion."