As West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to address at the Centre's event of Netaji birth anniversary, triggering a debate on whether she felt insulted by 'Jai Shri Ram' chants, Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien took to Twitter and posted a video of the event capturing what exactly happened before Banerjee's address. He also said one can't be taught dignity, adding to Mamata Banerjee's statement, "Government programme should have some dignity."
Soon after Mamata Banerjee was invited to the state, there were chants of 'Jai Shri Ram' from the audience. The chants were loud enough to prompt the commentators on the stage to urge people to be quiet. As the video shows, in the audience too those who raised the chants were asked to be quiet. As this derailed the programme for a second, the commentator on the stage again announced Mamata Banerjee's name.
"No, I feel government programmes must have some dignity. This is not a political programme. This is a government programme. This belongs to all political parties and people. I am grateful to PM Narendra Modi and the Union culture ministry that you arranged the event in Kolkata. But insulting someone after inviting them doesn't behove you. On the protest of that, I am not saying anything. Jai Hind. Jai Bangla," Mamata Banerjee said and left the stage.
{{/usCountry}}"No, I feel government programmes must have some dignity. This is not a political programme. This is a government programme. This belongs to all political parties and people. I am grateful to PM Narendra Modi and the Union culture ministry that you arranged the event in Kolkata. But insulting someone after inviting them doesn't behove you. On the protest of that, I am not saying anything. Jai Hind. Jai Bangla," Mamata Banerjee said and left the stage.
{{/usCountry}}This is not the first time that Mamata took objection to Jai Shri Ram slogan. In 2019, her convoy was greeted with Jai Shri Ram slogans in North 24 Parganas, following which she had got down from her car and accused them of being outsiders.