Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has formally invited chief minister Mamata Banerjee to attend the August 22 inauguration of three Metro corridors in the city by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The August 14 letter invites Mamata to “grace the occasion at Jessore Road Metro station” as Modi inaugurates the Sealdah-Esplanade Metro Section, Beleghata-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay Section, Noapara-Jai Hind (Biman Bandar) Section, and a subway at Howrah Metro station.

The commissioning represents a significant milestone for Calcutta’s Metro network. The Sealdah-Esplanade section will complete the entire 16.6km East-West Metro corridor (Green Line), while the Noapara-Biman Bandar link will connect the airport to the Metro network for the first time as part of the Yellow Line. The Beleghata-Ruby section extends the Orange Line, currently operational between New Garia and Ruby.

Political tensions

The invitation has sparked political controversy, with Trinamool leaders viewing it as more than a ceremonial gesture. Party spokesperson and councillor Arup Chakraborty dismissed the letter as a “white paper” rather than a genuine invite.

“It is peppered with details of how much the Centre has spent on Bengal projects. In reality, Bengal faces stark discrimination from the Centre. That reality is playing in their subconscious minds,” Chakraborty said, referring to the letter’s emphasis on railway project allocations for Bengal.

Till 9pm on Sunday, there was no official reaction from Mamata.

History of disputes

This controversy follows a pattern of political disputes over Metro openings since 2020. In July 2022, then Union minister Smriti Irani inaugurated Sealdah Metro station amid claims that Mamata had not been invited to the railway ministry programme. The BJP countered that elected representatives from their party were excluded from state government events.

Earlier, in February 2020, the ruling Trinamool Congress boycotted the opening of the Salt Lake Sector V to Stadium link — the first operational section of the East-West Metro — after Mamata’s name was reportedly omitted from the invitation list. Trinamool leaders at the time emphasised that the East-West corridor was Mamata’s “brainchild” during her tenure as railway minister.

At a news conference on Sunday, Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya outlined the Prime Minister’s itinerary. “The Prime Minister will flag off the train at Jessore Road station. He will travel on the train to the airport and come back to Jessore Road,” he said.

Bhattacharya also criticised ongoing project delays, stating that “43 railway projects in Bengal are stuck in land logjams” due to the state government’s lack of a “comprehensive land policy”. However, he declined to comment on the invitation to Mamata, saying it was a railway ministry decision.