BJP alleges TMC 'blacklisted' 18 of its karyakartas; shops told not to sell goods to them

Further escalating the turf war in Bengal, BJP has now accused TMC of instructing shopkeepers to not sell any items to certain BJP leaders. Taking to Twitter, Bengal BJP Mahila Morcha chief Keya Ghosh on Saturday, shared a list allegedly circulated by TMC, listing down 18 individuals to whom no items especially tea must not be sold without TMC's permission. Ghosh claimed that the common link to all listed members was that they were BJP workers.

TMC lists 20 BJP leaders, bars shops from selling good to them

Shocked at the 'blacklisting', Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged CM Mamata Banerjee to ensure that all citizens in West Bengal are protected and not ostracised or denied the basics. Meanwhile, BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta said that this development was not unique. He claimed that this blacklisting was done to break the morale & the economic backbone of karyakartas, using the cover of media silence and police complicity.

Centre Vs Mamata

Mamata Banerjee has locked horns with the Centre over ex-Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay's recall to Centre. Last week, hours after PM Modi held a Cyclone Yaas review meeting sans Mamata Banerjee, Centre asked the Bengal government to immediately relieve Bandyopadhyay, as he is supposed to report and join the Department of Personnel and Training in the North Block of New Delhi at 10 AM on May 31, 2021. Trinamool slammed the move, calling it 'vindictive politics' and 'forced central deputation' and refused to send him back.

Later, Bandopadhyay whose term had been extended till September 2021, opted to retire on his original date - May 31. Promptly, Banerjee has appointed him as an advisor to CM. On the other hand, Centre issued a  show-cause notice to Bandopadhyay for reporting 15 minutes late to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s May 28 cyclone review meeting and is now mulling 'administrative action' or 'statutory action' on him.

The tiff started when Mamata Banerjee had refused to attend the review meeting chaired by PM Modi on Cyclone Yaas, allegedly due to Suvendu Adhikari's presence - who was invited to attend the meeting as Leader of Opposition. Instead, Banerjee submitted the damage assessment report to the PM asking for Rs 20,000 crore for the damages and left citing other commitments. Moreover, the Bengal CM made PM Modi wait for almost 30 minutes despite being on the same premises, following which she arrived with the Bengal Chief Secretary and handed him the report and left.