Political showdown at Bengal trade meet

There was high drama on Tuesday when Union minister of state for shipping and Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy refused to share the dais with two West Bengal ministers at a trade body function here and left the meeting mid-way.

Bengal’s industry and commerce minister Nirupam Sen and urban development minister Ashoke Bhattacharjee belong to the rival CPI(M).

The incident took place at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce (BNCCI). Roy, who was scheduled to address the AGM, left on the pretext of some urgent work as soon as he saw Sen and Bhattacharjee.

Later, he told a section of the media that he was not aware that two Bengal ministers would be there at the meet. “The organisers did not inform me about it,” Roy said.
Terming Roy’s attitude unfortunate, Sen said the Bengal government had always stressed on a healthy Centre-state relation. “This is important for the sake of development. Previously, many Union ministers have shared the dais with us despite belonging to different parties. This is unfortunate,” Sen said.

Bhattacharjee was more vociferous in his criticism. “Such an attitude is typical of the Trinamool. What more can we expect from them? Naturally, I was not shocked or hurt by Roy’s action,” he said.