Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has questioned the decision by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to attend G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in Delhi.
Chowdhury’s attack on Banerjee, who also head the Trinamool Congress, came days after opposition parties announced their anti-BJP alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Chowdhury wondered if there was a hidden motive behind Banerjee travelling to Delhi to attend the G20 dinner.
“I wonder what prompted her to rush all the way to Delhi to be in the dinner party along with these leaders,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying.
The Congress leader, according to news agency PTI, added, “When many non-BJP Chief Ministers refrained from attending the dinner, Didi (Mamata Banerjee) went to Delhi a day in advance. She attended the occasion with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the same room.”
Banerjee’s party, the TMC, reacted saying that it was not up to Chowdhury to dictate Banerjee’s plans to respect established protocol.
Also supporting Banerjee was former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, who wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “It was not a BJP meeting but of PM. So how can Congi object?”
Banerjee was earlier scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Saturday but her scheduled flight was changed to Friday due to regulation of flight movements in India’s national capital for the G20 summit.