A day will come when Bengal will decide who will attend such meetings: Mamata

Kolkata: Without giving any significance to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video conference to discuss COVID-19 situation in which Bengal was not allowed to speak, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said: "The state is not so weak that one single meeting can decide its fate. A day will come when Bengal will be in the seat of deciding who will attend such meetings."

"Why do you all consider Bengal so weak? People of Bengal always move ahead keeping their head high. Can one meeting finalise the future of Bengal?" Banerjee said in reply to a question regarding the Centre not allowing Bengal to speak in the video conference.

Though the name of Bengal was among the states along with Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh those were about to attend the video conference on Wednesday, Banerjee did not attend the same as it was of no use participating in it as a "mute spectator". Instead she held a meeting in regards to COVID-19 situation in the state with officials that are directly involved in working at the grassroot level and took a series of steps to check further the spread of the disease as much as possible.

She further said: "They did not allow us to speak in the meeting considering it is not needed. But, there is nothing to worry about. Instead it is the time to work to ensure

safety of people. Mere comparison of facts and figures of states does not help in checking the spread of the disease. Instead, a proper population based study is needed for the same."

"We must not forget what Bengal thinks today India thinks tomorrow. We must feel proud of our state and we must not think ourselves weak. It is the people who decided our fate and not a mere one meeting," the Chief Minister

said quoting Rabindranath Tagore "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high".

The Chief Minister further stated that the Centre has given only Rs 1000 crore as interim grant to fight against the aftermath of super cyclone Amphan and many are even doing politics over the same. "We have already released Rs 6,500 crore to help people in distress," she said.