Mamata Banerjee was not informed at all that the ‘local MLA’ (MLA Suvendu Adhikari) would be there. This is what Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said in her letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Kalaikunda meeting. Although she did not write Suvendu’s name in the official letter. But in a five-page letter to Narendra Modi about not releasing Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Mamata wrote about 9 of the 13 issues he raised.
At the very end of the third page of her letter to Narendra Modi, she wrote, “The modified structure of the PM-CM meeting that you told us had the name of a local MLA from your party. Before the meeting on Friday, Nabanna had verbally informed Delhi on Thursday that Mamata would not attend the meeting if Suvendu would be there. As she will not meet the Prime Minister in the presence of any ‘party MLA’.” It is clear that Mamata is still not recognising Suvendu as the ‘Leader of the Opposition’. Besides, she wrote in the letter that the Governor and other Union Ministers also have no constitutional right to be present in the meeting. But in the courtesy call, she did not raise any questions about it. In other words, she is raising questions about Suvendu’s presence and therefore, she did not attend the meeting.
On Friday, the BJP unveiled the Assembly’s acknowledgement in the name of Suvendu as the ‘Leader of the Opposition’ through which it was explained that Suvendu, not as an MLA, but as the Opposition Leader was present in the meeting. Even after that, Mamata remained steadfast in her speech. She also raised this issue at a press conference on Saturday without naming Suvendu.