Murmu expressed disappointment over the venue change of an event and questioned the development of tribal people in the state.
President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to West Bengal on Saturday became a political flashpoint as she reproached chief minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly breaching protocol, expressed disappointment over the venue change of an event and questioned the development of tribal people in the state, in a rare rebuke of an elected government by the constitutional head.
Her remarks triggered a bitter face-off, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of “crossing all limits” and insulting the President, while chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was using the country’s highest office to malign the state and questioned the President’s “silence” on alleged atrocities against tribals in BJP-ruled states.
Addressing the 9th International Santhal Conference at Gosainpur near Siliguri, Murmu said: “When I was coming here, I realised that someone was not willing for this meeting to take place. It seems some do not want the Santhals to progress, to learn, and to unite.”
The event was originally scheduled to be held at Bidhannagar in Phansidewa block, around 25 km away. Murmu also said that Banerjee did not attend the conference, even though it had been fixed much earlier. “Generally, it is seen that when the President comes, the chief minister and other ministers remain present. But the chief minister madam didn’t come. Even I am the daughter of Bengal. I am not allowed to visit Bengal. Mamata didi is like my younger sister. Maybe she is miffed with me, and that’s why the programme was held so far,” the President said.
The conference was organised by the International Santhal Council, a private organisation.
The Santhals are one of the largest tribal communities of eastern India, concentrated mainly in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Assam. “I don’t think the Santhals and adivasis in this area are witnessing any development,” said Murmu, India’s first tribal President, at Gosainpur.
People aware of the matter said that the venue was shifted due to safety protocols. After the conference concluded, Murmu visited the Phansidewa field to plant a sapling.
“It would have been better had the programme been held at this place. It is such a huge field. I don’t know what the administration thought. They had stated that this area was congested, but I came here easily,” the President said.
Chief minister Banerjee, who is staging a sit-in protest in Kolkata over the deletion of names during the controversial SIR exercise, rejected the allegations and said Murmu was taking the BJP’s agenda forward.
“We respect the President… But even the President was sent to sell politics and the BJP’s agenda. You have been trapped by the BJP. Do we have no work other than regularly receiving guests and accompanying them? If you come once a year, I would receive you. But if you come 50 times a year, how can I give you so much time?” she said.
Banerjee said that the President had not highlighted the plight of tribal people in NDA-ruled states, accusing her of playing politics at the BJP’s behest.
“You never said a word when tribals in Manipur were tortured. Did the BJP ask you? Why didn’t you protest when there were atrocities on tribals in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh? Many tribal voters were removed from the electoral roll. You never uttered a word on SIR. Don’t play politics at the time of elections on BJP’s instructions,” she said.
Banerjee added: “I am holding a demonstration for the people over SIR, how can I attend your programme? You are the BJP’s priority, the people are my priority.”
Responding to the shifting of the event’s venue, Mamata said: “We did not even know about it. I don’t know who organised it, who attended it or who funded it.”
In a post on X, she added: “Hon’ble President was received and seen off by Mayor Siliguri Municipal Corporation, DM Darjeeling and CP Siliguri Police Commissionerate strictly as per the approved lineup shared by the President’s Secretariat. CM, West Bengal was not part of the lineup or the dais plan. No protocol lapse happened on part of district administration.”
Soon after Murmu’s comments, the PM and several Union ministers, including home minister Amit Shah and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, too targeted the government of the poll-bound state.
