West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Credit: PTI File Photo
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, said that she didn’t like the manner in which TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had been arrested.
Banerjee mentioned Naidu’s name while she was talking in the context of political vindictiveness.
“For instance, Chandrababu Naidu has been arrested. I didn’t like it. This is because, if there’s something incorrect, then discuss it, inspect and investigate. This is in your hands. But there shouldn’t be anything done with anyone, vindictively…,” she said.
Banerjee dubbed the ED summon of party MP Abhishek Banerjee on September 13 – the day the I.N.D.I.A bloc’s coordination committee will hold its first meeting as “political vendetta”.
The chief minister said that her party will have differences (with the party in power at the Centre), and in a political democracy there’s adjustment with some parties, while it’s not with some others.
“This happens in a democracy. But there’s a limit in a democracy,” she said.
“Today, if you do so, as one government is in power, then tomorrow another government will come to power which will also do the same thing…,” she said. Banerjee recalled that she didn’t react (vindictively) against the CPI(M) chief minister, and ministers, despite the party having been in power for 34 years.
The Chief Minister will commence her foreign tour on Tuesday morning. She is headed for Spain, with a halt in Dubai. On Wednesday, she will leave for Madrid from Dubai where she will attend a three-day business conference, and is expected to meet Indians residing abroad.
Thereafter, she will leave for Barcelona, where there’s a programme in connection with the state's upcoming business summit. On her return, she will hold another business meeting in Dubai centred around the upcoming state business summit. The chief minister added that despite several invitations she is going abroad after five years, as there was a lack of (official) approval.
India-Bharat issue
The Bengal chief minister said while calling the country Bharat is not something different from calling it India, what’s not okay is to drop the name India. To approve such a move, without constitutional amendment is not in sync with the Constitution, she said.
There’s no reservation about calling the country Bharat, but there’s no need of dropping the name, India, she said. She observed that the change in name could be because of the formation of the I.N.D.I.A bloc. Talking of the Constitution, she said that Bharat (the name) figures in it.