Mamata bashes Modi over 'kurta-sweets' remark, says he made ‘political issue’ of her ‘courtesy’

Suri: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is pretty cut up about Prime Minister Narendra Modi going public with the gift of kurtas and sweets that she sent him, saying he had made a “political issue” of the “courtesy” shown by her.

Modi had said in a televised interview on Tuesday that the Trinamool Congress supremo sends him kurtas, which she chooses personally for him, and Bengali sweets, every year.

“What is wrong in sending kurtas? We send gifts to many important people during Durga Puja. You are trying to make a political issue by divulging this information.

“I show you (Modi) so much courtesy and you come here and abuse me,” Banerjee told an election rally here.

She said she sends clothing made by famous weavers from her state and sweets to not only Modi but a hundred other people on their birthdays and other occasions but nobody made an issue out of it.

She claimed in doing so the prime minister was “trying to build his image, but this is not the way to do it”.

Banerjee said she does not do the “politics of riots and murder” and asked whether Modi had forgotten the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 when he was the chief minister.

The fiery TMC leader’s angry outburst notwithstanding, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh was appreciative of Banerjee’s gesture, saying it was the “right thing” to do and even calling her “our guardian”.

“If Mamata Banerjee sent sweets, I think she did the right thing. If she has shown respect, I think there is no mistake in it. I also believe in the same principle and think that all politicians must do it,” Ghosh told a press conference at the Kolkata Press Club.

He recalled how Banerjee called him up to inquire about his health when he was unwell.

“She is not only our chief minister but also our guardian,” he said, apparently trying to use a dash of sweetness to cut through the poll-time acridity.