Mukul walks out of biz meet in a huff

KOLKATA: Union minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy on Tuesday stormed out of a chamber of commerce meeting on finding that he would have to share the dais with state ministers Nirupam Sen and Asok Bhattacharya. He left without issuing even a cursory apology to the guests.
The Trinamool Congress leader whose action was severely criticized by CPM leaders later claimed that he was kept in the dark about the presence of state industries minister Sen and municipal affairs & urban development minister Bhattacharya by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI), which had invited the three politicians to attend its annual general meeting.
"We had not been informed by the organizers that Nirupam Sen and Asok Bhattacharya would be there. In that case, I would have surely avoided the meeting. Our party has decided not to share the dais with CPM leaders in private meetings. Only official programmes will see us together. No such decision has been taken about the Left Front constituents, though," Roy said.
On its part, however, BNCCI asserted it was completely in the clear. "The presence of the state ministers was confirmed only at the last minute. The Union minister had not sought details on whom we had invited and not indicated his reservations about the presence of any particular person either," BNCCI's outgoing president Sandip Sen said.
Trinamool has opted for a political boycott of CPM at all private meetings, except official ones where protocol comes in the way of adopting such a stand. Last week, another Trinamool minister Union minister of state for urban development Saugata Roy had skipped a mall-opening function at New Town (Rajarhat) as Bhattacharya was also slated to attend the function.
"What happened today (Tuesday) was unfortunate and spells doom for a healthy political atmosphere," the state urban development minister said. He added that Roy should have conveyed the Trinamool stand earlier.
"The state has always worked closely with the Centre. If it is true that the Union minister left because we were there, it was definitely something we were not expecting," Sen said. "Perhaps the minister had some urgent engagement, which he had to attend to," the state industries minister added.
Sen pointed out that the state would not let election results come in the way of economic development. "Irrespective of what happens in the polls, development is a must," he added.