Anti-BJP parties in West Bengal today gave the coldolence meeting of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee a miss. West Bengal BJP, however, sent their leaders to all political parties to invite them to attend the meeting at the historic Mahajati Sadan in North Kolkata.
Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, had boarded the flight to Delhi, minutes after Vajpayee was declared dead on August 16 this year. Banerjee, however, asked her partymen not to attend the coldolence meeting organised by the state BJP.
The BJP team met left front chairman Biman Bose at CPI(M) party office in Kolkata's Alimuddin Street. Bose expressed his inability to attend the meeting.
So did Congress state President Adhir Chowdhury. Chowdhury said his party decided not to attend because they had arelady given condolence to the late former prime minister of India.
"There is no doubt that we have great respect for him. And we showed that in Delhi as our national president (Rahul Gandhi) and Soniaji both went to pay their last tribute to Vajpayee ji on behalf of the party. Now there is no such need to attend another in Bengal," said he.
A Trinamool Congress MP said, "BJP would do well to allow Atalji to rest in peace."
A procession of BJP leaders carrying ashes of Vajapyee for immersion in Birbhum today was attacked allegedly by a group of Trinamool Congress workers. Several BJP workers were injured in the clash which ensued this morning in Birbhum.
BJP's state vice president Biswapriya Roychowdhury said his party expected some sort of moral highground from Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress.
"But neither the chief minister nor did her party have any civic sense left. They even did not spare the ashes of Vajpyee ji," said he.
Abishek Banerjee, MP and nephew of Mamata Banerjee, today filed a contempt peition in a city civil court in Kolkata against BJP president Amit Shah for his speech in Kolkata where he termed both Banerjee and her daughter as corrupt.
Abhishek had warned after Shah's speech in Kolkata that either the BJP president would have to retract his speech within 72 hours or he would have to face contempt notice.
A BJP leader responded to it and said, "He (Abhishek) should have courage to go to Calcutta High Court rather than to a city sessions court."