Trinamool on Thursday made it clear that chief minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to skip Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Friday unveiling of infrastructure projects worth over ₹5,200 crore — including three Metro services in Calcutta — largely in protest against the saffron regime’s alleged Bengali-phobia.
Trinamool sources said there were fears that the event would be hijacked by the BJP to humiliate her, which has happened twice in recent memory.
But they added that it was not enough to keep Mamata away then. This time, “linguistic apartheid” against Indian Bengalis was the main reason, in addition to a four-year “vindictive economic blockade” by the Centre after the BJP got trounced in the 2021 Assembly polls.
Some other factors, they said, were inadequate central recognition of her contribution to the Metro cause from her time as the Union railway minister of UPA II and the contentious special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
“The economic blockade has been wreaking havoc on Bengal for years, now this anti-Bengal, anti-Bengali, anti-Bengali language stand of the BJP. In this scenario, it is the foremost priority of Mamata Banerjee to protect Bengal’s people, while safeguarding the ethos, the oshmita (pride) of Bengal. That she will always put Bengal first is a foregone conclusion,” said Trinamool state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar.
“It will be interesting to see if the Prime Minister peppers his speech, read off the teleprompter, with Bengali words and phrases, as he has done in the past. The declared stand of the BJP now is that there is nothing called the Bengali language, and those who speak it are Bangladeshi,” he said.
Mamata’s call for a major, popular uprising against the BJP’s alleged politically motivated marginalisation of the Bengali identity is something the saffron camp could struggle to counter as the 2026 state election approaches. The BJP is hoping that Modi would chart the course for a counteroffensive on Friday.
When told that other non-NDA chief ministers — Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan or Tamil Nadu’s M.K. Stalin — often don’t skip events related to the state’s development or infrastructure, Trinamool leaders said the way Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw invited Mamata to the Friday event “with just a routine letter” also did not go down well with her.
A senior in the state government said Mamata was not thrilled with how the Centre went about the unveiling event.
“All these projects were planned and funded by none other than her, originally, when she was the Union railway minister. After years of sluggish progress, they (the BJP) are now hurrying to have them inaugurated now to take credit before the 2026 poll,” the source said.
According to a senior in the Assembly’s Treasury benches, there were fears of the Centre allowing the BJP to sully the event with attacks on Mamata.
“Remember what happened at Howrah station (on December 30, 2022) and Victoria Memorial (on January 23, 2021)?” he asked, referring to the chief minister being greeted with taunts and belligerent cries of “Jai Shri Ram” by hundreds of BJP workers from among the audience at central government events, in the presence of Modi. On December 30, 2022, mindful that Modi (attending virtually) had lost his mother a few hours earlier, Mamata went ahead and delivered her speech. On January 23, 2021, she refused in Modi’s presence to speak in protest.
Contacted, Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya alleged that 43 railway projects in Bengal, including the East-West Metro, were delayed because of the state’s non-cooperation and its hands-off land policy.
“The invitation to the chief minister was natural as the BJP does not believe in politics of hatred and exclusion. It has faith in cooperative federalism. Trinamool does not. Therefore, such a response isn’t unexpected,” said the Rajya Sabha member.
“Her (Mamata’s) attendance would have been desirable,” added Bhattacharya.
The Congress state leadership said Mamata should have gone for the sake of democratic decency, but saw in the “theatrics” an attempt to show the people how fiercely acrimonious Trinamool and the BJP are when they were not, “behind the curtains”.
“This is all an act to mislead the people. They (Trinamool and BJP) are very much together behind the curtains. This ferocity towards each other in public is to keep helping each other as trusted partners,” said the Congress chief Bengal spokesperson Soumya Aich Roy.
In a virtual echo, CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said Mamata should have gone but she apparently did not want to make such a public appearance with Modi as polls were nearing.
Several political observers thought that Mamata’s stance not to skip share dias with the PM was detrimental to the interests of the state, even though the no-show might benefit her politically.
“Mamata might not want to be seen sharing a platform in the company of Modi with polls less than a year away. Her proximity to Modi might send a wrong message to her minority votebank, but such an attitude does not help Bengal. The CM could have publicly told Modi about the funds due to the state. That could have helped the state and hurt the BJP,” said a political observer.
However, according to political scientist Subhamoy Maitra, the chief minister was sticking to her plan and from her viewpoint, she wasn’t making any electoral mistake.
The discourse over Mamata not attending this event does not touch the lives of the vast sections of the electorate — those with little or nothing to do with Metro services or even Calcutta — that she knows will firmly side with her, said Maitra.
“She knows the those people whose lives would be improved with what’s happening tomorrow (Friday) need not be specifically attended to by her government, and she isn’t losing sleep over their opinion of her. Mamata has her priorities set. Which is why she focuses on the welfare of persecuted migrant workers, social security measures such as Lakshmir Bhandar, Durga Puja doles to clubs and Amader Para, Amader Samadhan,” said Maitra.
“Mamata has made direct investments in areas she deems necessary, using taxpayer money, some of which do help crores of people. Those multitudes from the lower socio-economic classes remain electorally indebted to her,” he added.