Suvendu Adhikari hits back at Mamata after HC drops his name from Gangasagar panel

Kolkata, Jan 12 (IANS) A day after the Calcutta High Court — accepting the plea of the state government — removed the name of Suvendu Adhikari from the expert committee formed to monitor the preparedness for Gangasagar Mela, the BJP Leader of the Opposition on Wednesday hit back at the state government, alleging that it is afraid of him.

The annual Makar Sankranti festivity is being held from January 8-16.

“Mamata Banerjee has a single point agenda, which is to stop Suvendu Adhiakri. But she should understand that it is a question of the Leader of the Opposition and the ruling party should give due honour to the Chair. The state government is scared of the BJP. They are scared of the Leader of the Opposition,” Adhikari said after offering floral tribute to Swami Vivekananda on the occasion of his 159th birth anniversary here on Wednesday.

Few days back, the Calcutta High Court had formed a three-member committee to motor the preparedness for Gangasagar Mela, in which Adhikari was included. But the state government objected to the inclusion of Adhikari, pleading that the presence of a political personality would defeat the purpose of the panel. Accepting the state government’s plea, the high court removed Adhikari from the committee.

Reacting to the move, the BJP MLA from Nandigram said, “The question is not removing Adhikari from the committee. The entire committee was changed. In fact, I didn’t want to be in the committee but it was the high court’s decision and the state government should have respected it.”

Throwing a challenge to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Adhikari said, “It is not possible to ignore the Leader of the Opposition in a parliamentary democracy. The LOP holds a place of importance. She (Banerjee) should remember that names proposed by the state government for the Information Commissioner, Lokayukta and Chairperson of State Human Rights Commission were withheld because the decisions were taken unilaterally without taking the Leader of the Opposition into confidence.”

–IANS

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