Mamata hits out at Left, BJP for 'tarnishing' her image ahead of London visit

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday criticised the BJP and the Left for attempting to tarnish her reputation over her upcoming visit to London to deliver a lecture at the University of Oxford, saying that attacking a leader ahead of a foreign trip damages the country's image.

Banerjee acknowledged that political differences exist but insisted that no leader should be defamed before an international visit as they represent the country on such occasions.

"There is no medicine to treat jealousy. The opposition is trying to malign me ahead of my visit to London. But by doing so, they are damaging the country's image," she said.

To ensure smooth administration during her weeklong absence, Banerjee has formed a five-member task force along with a group of ministers. "I may be abroad, but both chief secretary Manoj Pant and I will be available over the phone in case of any emergency. The party affairs will be handled by Subrata Bakshi and Abhishek Banerjee," she added.

Banerjee is scheduled to leave for London on 21 March, with her lecture at Kellogg College of Oxford University slated for 27 March. During her stay, she will also meet industrialists on 25 March to seek investments for the state. She is expected to return between 28 and 29 March. This will be her second visit to London, following a business meeting in Edinburgh in November 2017. The Centre approved her visit last week.

While maintaining that she welcomes criticism as part of democracy, Banerjee condemned attempts to malign West Bengal on the international stage. "You can insult me, but don't try to tarnish Bengal's image abroad," she stated.

Banerjee alleged that some groups had drafted messages to be sent to Oxford University in an attempt to discredit her and the state. "They are spreading misinformation through WhatsApp and emails. They are asking people to write to the university claiming that we are bad people from Bengal. This is a dirty game," she remarked, without naming any particular party.

A possible reference point could be a recent article published in the Left mouthpiece Ganashakti, implying that Oxford University was unaware of an event featuring Banerjee, and drawing the conclusion that she was therefore being disingenuous about the purported invite to speak at the university, without mentioning that it was 'only one college', though Oxford University has no central campus.

State BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari tweeted the article and declared the invitation to be 'fake', though a representative of the university vice-chancellor's office made it clear that there was no central database of events at the university with the vice-chancellor's office, and individual colleges were free to form their own event calendars, which the vice-chancellor's office would not necessarily be aware of.

The chief minister's office also made public invitations to Banerjee from Queen Mary University and the London School of Economics, though it was unclear whether she would accept their invitations.

As of now, as part of her itinerary in the UK, Banerjee will attend a programme at the Indian High Commission on 24 March, a government-to-government (G2G) programme on 26 March, and another G2G event at Oxford on 27 March.

The CM said West Bengal has good relationship with UK and a team from that country also participated in the Bengal Global Business Summit.

Senior BJP leader Shankar Ghosh dismissed Banerjee's allegations, claiming that she was merely reacting to legitimate questions about her governance.

With PTI inputs