All eyes were on the Eastern Zonal Council(EZC) meeting in Bhubaneshwar on Friday where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The meeting which was chaired by Shah was also attended by Chief Ministers of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh to discuss issues on development of the Eastern zone.
“We raised only issues which were relevant. We did not raise issues on Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA), National Register of Citizenship(NRC) and National Population Register(NPR). The meeting was not for that,” said Mamata Banerjee who emphasized that she spoke about West Bengal and the funds that the State was being deprived of like devolution.
However Mamata did speak out on the riots in North-East Delhi which broke out after the anti-CAA, NRC and NPR protests spiralled out of control, killing 42 people so far and injuring over 200. “I am saddened by the situation in Delhi. It is necessary to bring back peace. It is important to help the victims’ families, also families of the Police constable and the IB officer. If anything happens, it affects the nation. Hence there should be peace in the country,” added Mamata.
Back in Kolkata, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar too spoke out on the Delhi violence. “I strongly condemn violence wherever it is, it is a threat to democracy and not promoted by our ethos. Violence has to be condemned. We must keep the nation first as the nation is on the rise. An incident is always painful but we must work together in the larger interest of the nation,” said the Governor.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury questioned the delay in transferring the Delhi Police Commissioner while talking about the violence. “What has happened in Delhi is very sad, the Police Commissioner should have been removed much earlier why was he on extension?” said Chowdhury. The Congress leader also chose to lash out at Mamata accusing her of minority appeasement saying that she should go and also protest for the Muslims who had voted for her.
