Suvendu letter to EAM on Bengal CM’s foreign trips
The Statesman | 30 March 2025
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Friday urged the external affairs minister S Jaishankar to deny permission to chief minister Mamata Banerjee for future foreign trips.
Mr Adhikari also urged the Union minister to ensure “she does not get the opportunity to undermine India on foreign soil.”
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After completing a six-day London visit, Miss Banerjee on Saturday returned to Kolkata.
In a letter written to Mr Jaishankar on Friday Mr Adhikari accused the West Bengal chief minister of undermining India on the international stage and bringing shame to the country during her UK trip.
The LoP, while referring to Miss Banerjee’s speech at a business meet in London where she spoke about Bengal’s ‘emotional’ and ‘historical relations’, said that the state had been in the forefront of the Independence movement against British rule.
“She has deliberately tarnished India’s reputation on foreign soil. Her anti-India rhetoric is an embarrassment for every Bengali and all the Indians for that matter,” he wrote on an X-handle on Friday night.
“My opinion is that Mamata Banerjee should not travel in future, to any foreign country, in the capacity of chief minister, aided and assisted by Indian embassies and missions located overseas,” according to his post.
“I have written a letter to the Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs; @Dr S Jaishankar ji in this regard, requesting him that the MEA should deny Smt. Mamata any permission for future foreign trips, as the Chief Minister of West Bengal,” he said.