Mamata appeals to Centre to withdraw order recalling Bengal chief secretary, says BJP pursuing 'vendetta politics'

Kolkata: Alleging that the BJP-led Centre was pursuing “vendetta politics”, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday appealed to the Union government to withdraw its order recalling Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay and allow the senior bureaucrat to work for people amid the COVID-19 crisis. She also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were trying to create problems for her government at every step as they were yet to come to terms with BJP’s defeat in the Assembly elections. The TMC supremo further stated that she was ready to touch Modi’s feet if told to do for the sake of West Bengal’s growth and development. “Because you (Modi and Shah) cannot digest BJP’s defeat in (Bengal), you have started creating problems for us from day one. What is the fault of the chief secretary Recalling the chief secretary amid the COVID crisis goes on to show that the Centre was indulging in political vendetta,” she asserted. Talking about the criticism she faced for skipping the review meeting with Modi on cyclone devastation, Mamata said, “It was supposed to be held between the prime minister and the chief minister. Why were BJP leaders called to the session?” She also claimed that Opposition leaders were not invited to similar review meetings held in Gujarat and Odisha, the two states that also faced cyclone fury over the past few days.