Harvard University invite for Mamata Banerjee

Months after forming the West Bengal government by defeating the communists, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has received an invitation from Harvard University to give a lecture on the politics and culture of the state, officials said.

Sources close to Banerjee said the formal invitation from the hallowed institution was received at the chief minister’s secretariat on Saturday. Banerjee has been requested to speak on either the 'Culture and Politics of Bengal' or 'Demographic Changes in Bengal'.

The university authorities have not fixed a date, but indicated their preference for late-October or the first week of November for the trip. Banerjee is considering the invitation, the sources said.

Last year, Banerjee was invited by Cambridge University for a lecture, but she cancelled the visit citing spiralling political violence in the state.

In May, she led an alliance of her party Trinamool Congress and the Congress to power ending the 34-year old rule of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) headed Left Front.