NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's reported statement that he did not like Kolkata while he was fond of the city's metro system is still raising the hackles of politicians in West Bengal.
While most opposition MPs attacked Advani for the comments, the Trinamool Congress suggested that he could have been misquoted.
"Advani is too veteran a politician to commit such indiscretion," Trinamool leader Dr Nitish Sengupta said on Thursday.
"This is my opinion. However, if it is true, I think it is most unfortunate," he said. "Kolkata is the cradle of renaissance and the freedom movement. Political heavyweights are not expected to make callous remarks," he added.
Significantly, the Mayor of Kolkata is Trinamool's Subroto Mukherjee. His deputy is Meena Purohit, who is from Advani's Bharatiya Janata Party.
"I am sure the deputy prime minister is aware of the fact that the Trinamool- BJP combine is responsible for the upkeep of the city. That he still made the comments could be a Freudian slip," Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Nilotpal Basu said.
"But if there is a method behind such madness, it shows that the deputy prime minister is not interested in the integration of the country. It cannot be ignored that as the country's home minister, Advani's propensity towards communal politics is well known," he said.
Although the BJP has a marginal presence in West Bengal, party members belonging to the state are embarrassed over the deputy prime minister's remark.
BJP sources in West Bengal pointed out that when former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi shocked Kolkatans by remarking that "it is a dying city", his Congress party had to pay a price. The Left Front, led by the CPI-M, bagged most of the seats in West Bengal in the next general election.
"Politicians belonging to West Bengal are fiercely proud of Kolkata. Disparaging remarks about it from a prominent central political personality only betrays either his contempt for the people of the state or his colossal ignorance," pointed out a Trinamool MP.
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
