Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off West Bengal’s first Vande Bharat Express and inaugurated the Joka-Taratala stretch of Kolkata Metro’s Purple Line on Friday.
He was scheduled to be in Kolkata to attend a series of programmes, but his visit was cancelled as his mother passed away in Ahmedabad.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who attended the flagging-off ceremony at the Howrah railway but refused to sit on the dais, offered her condolences to Modi.
“Today is a sad day. It is a personal loss. May god give you strength. I remember my mother also. There is no substitute for mothers,” Banerjee said.
Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Subhas Sarkar, and governor CV Ananda Bose were seen trying to convince Banerjee to sit on the dais.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikary shared the dais with the Union ministers as some supporters of the Opposition party raised “Jai Sri Ram” slogans.
Modi was scheduled to visit West Bengal also to lay the foundation and inaugurate projects worth over ₹7800 crore and chair a meeting of the National Ganga Council.
“I was supposed to attend the events physically but because of some personal reasons, I could not come. I am sorry for that,” he said. “We need to take the nation forward with forward-looking thoughts and approach.”
{{/usCountry}}“I was supposed to attend the events physically but because of some personal reasons, I could not come. I am sorry for that,” he said. “We need to take the nation forward with forward-looking thoughts and approach.”
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