Why Mamata didn't attend Jyoti Basu's funeral

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's decision to skip the funeral of Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran Jyoti Basu has snowballed into a major controversy.

On Thursday, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury alleged that Banerjee has 'insulted' the people of West Bengal by not attending the state funeral of the former West Bengal chief minister.

Even Left Front leaders were surprised by Mamata's no-show at the funeral, as the firebrand leader had visited the ailing Basu at his residence and at the hospital, where he was admitted after suffering from a bout of pneumonia.

Political pundits speculated that Banerjee chose not to attend the funeral, attended by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, due to the presence of chief minister and current bete noire Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Lakhs of people, who had turned up to pay their last respects to Basu, had virtually brought Kolkata to a standstill during the funeral on Tuesday.

Sources in Delhi's political circles have an interesting take on the issue, which has sparked a war of words between Banerjee and the CPI-M. According to them, it was not the Bengal CM, but Sonia Gandhi's elite Special Protection Group, which made Banerjee stay away from the funeral.

The Trinamool chief, known for her attention-grabbing antics, wanted to make a grand entry at the funeral along with the Congress chief. When politely told that Gandhi will travel by a SPG car, Mamata expressed her willingness to accompany the Congress chief in one of the eight SPG cars in her convoy.

Banerjee was furious when a SPG officer told her that according to security rules, nobody else could be allowed to travel with Gandhi. She even alleged that Gandhi didn't want to be seen with her and the SPG men were merely acting on her orders.

Not one to take no for an answer, Banerjee shouted at the SPG personnel, reminding  them that she was a Union minister, not a security threat. "Ask Soniaji. How can she refuse to take me in her car," the Trinamool chief even reportedly asked the SPG personnel, who had no answers to give her.