Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Monday claimed that he was not invited to President Droupadi Murmu's civic reception on Monday evening.
The ruling Trinamool Congress dubbed the charge as "baseless" and accused the BJP leaders of ”boycotting” the President's programme despite being invited.
The state government organised the programme for Murmu at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, where Governor CV Ananda Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in attendance.
Adhikari, who is currently in New Delhi tweeted: ”Those who queued up to vote against her (Murmu) would take the centre stage & hog the limelight at the felicitation event! Those who queued up to vote in her favour are snubbed by the WB Govt & aren't invited!”
The TMC, however, claimed several top leaders of the opposition party, including Adhikari, state president Sukanta Majumdar, and BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh have been invited to the programme.
The ruling party shared purported images of the receipts of the invitation cards for the President's civic reception sent to Majumdar and Ghosh. The signature and seal of the state BJP's office secretary, along with the date, were there in it.
The ruling party also tweeted another image of the receipt of the same invitation card sent to Adhikari. It has a signature but no seal or date.
Alleging that the BJP leaders are ”liars” and they have ”NO RESPECT for people belonging to the Santhali community”, the TMC tweeted: ”Were these lies approved by you, @AmitShah".
The Mamata Banerjee-led party also claimed that BJP leaders stooped to a new low.
"Despite being invited to the event scheduled at Netaji Indoor Stadium, they have chosen to boycott it. When it comes to petty politics, @BJP4India does not even spare the Hon'ble President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu. Shameful," the TMC said in another Twitter post.
Murmu arrived in Kolkata on Monday for a two-day visit to West Bengal. This is her first tour to the state after being elected the President.
