Mamata cries 'conspiracy' over cancellation of trip to World Hindu Congress

Mamata at Ramakrishna Mission West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Ramakrishna Mission headquarters in Howrah | PTI

Allegations by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that there was a “conspiracy” behind the cancellation of her trip to the recent World Hindu Congress at Chicago has triggered another controversy even as the ministry of external affairs has denied any role in the incident.

Banerjee was supposed to address the World Hindu Congress to mark the 125th anniversary of the historic speech by Swami Vivekananda at the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago. However, at the last moment, Banerjee's trip was cancelled due to unknown reasons.

The MEA clarified that it had not received any letter from the West Bengal government related to granting of approval for Banerjee to attend the World Hindu Congress. The MEA's statement confirms Banerjee herself cancelled the trip.

Interestingly, it is yet unclear what role the MEA had to play in Banerjee attending a programme organised by a Hindu organisation in a foreign country. Any politician or resident of India would require permission from the MEA and the state government if they would like to visit Pakistan and China. For political leaders, similar approval is required if they would like to hold political or business-level dialogues with any foreign countries.

WHC Bhagwat RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat addressing the World Hindu Congress in Chicago | PTI

Banerjee's itinerary for the Chicago visit did not mention any meetings with political leaders in the US or business talks. As a result, it was not necessary for Banerjee to seek permission from the Central government.

While visiting the Ramakrishna Mission headquarters at the Belur Mutt at Howrah district on September 11, Banerjee did not hide her emotions and said the cancellation of her visit to the World Hindu Congress was nothing less than a “big conspiracy”. Banerjee did not specify who was behind the conspiracy against her.

Trinamool Congress sources said Banerjee was to attend the World Hindu Congress after being invited by an organisation allied to the Ramakrishna Mission in Chicago.

"I think the BJP put huge pressure on the Ramakrishna Mission to cancel the invitation sent to the chief minister verbally," said a Trinamool leader.

Banerjee, it was learnt, did not get any written confirmation on her invitation to the World Hindu Congress till the “last hour”, following which she cancelled her visit to Chicago.

A similar incident happened during Banerjee's proposed trip to China where Chinese leaders did not confirm to her about holding a proposed political-level dialogue. Interestingly, Banerjee expressed her dismay in the presence of Ramakrishna Mission authorities at the Belur Mutt.

The World Hindu Congress gathering was also attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and it was not clear whether Banerjee was eager to share space with Bhagwat in Chicago. So the question emerges, did she decide to back out of the World Hindu Congress, knowing Bhagwat would attend the same function?

The Ramakrishna Mission did not comment on the issue, stating it did not want to be dragged into any kind of controversy.

However, leaving aside the bitter experiences associated with cancelled visits to China and then Chicago, Banerjee plans to leave for Frankfurt on Sunday and would stay there for five days before flying to Milan in Italy. The purpose of Banerjee's visit this time is to bring small-scale entrepreneurs to West Bengal, instead of targeting heavy industries, as has been done in the past.