Irked by BJP workers' sloganeering, Mamata stays away from Dais

High drama unfolded during the launch of the Vande Bharat Express at Howrah station on Friday as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came to the platform to participate in the event with BJP workers shouting "Jai Sri Ram" slogans. Annoyed at this, Banerjee refused to go up on the stage. Attempts by Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and Governor CV Ananda Bose to pacify Banerjee did not yield any result, as the chief minister decided to sit on a chair beside the main dais and participated in the programme.

While Vaishnaw was seen trying to pacify Mamata Banerjee, Union Minister of State (MoS) Subhas Sarkar was seen urging people to stop shouting slogans. Sarkar said from the dais, "This is a programme organised by the government of India. Please do not utter certain words." However, the BJP workers paid no heed to it. Despite Vaishnaw's pleas, the sloganeering continued.

A visibly annoyed Banerjee expressed displeasure at the incident by refusing to go up on the dais from where the Vande Bharat Express from Howrah Station to New Jalpaiguri was flagged off. She sat on a chair in the platform and flagged off the train and delivered her speech from there.


Governor C V Ananda Rao, Vaishnaw, Subhas Sarkar and John Barla, Union Minister for Home Affairs (MoS) Nishith Pramanik, leader of the Opposition in the assembly Suvendu Adhikari were present on the dais.

Talking to media persons later, Vaishnaw said, "We had extended a cordial invitation to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee." He noted that this kind of incident could not be controlled.

However, the Trinamool Congress leadership condemned the incident and said that chief minister was insulted at the event.

A similar incident had happened at Kolkata's iconic Victoria Memorial in January 2021, where BJP supporters shouted 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans when Mamata Banerjee rose to speak on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary at an event where PM Modi was present in Kolkata.