The wind of change sweeping the state has not left the corporate sector unaffected in Bengal. Most of the industrialists who were earlier close to the ruling CPI(M), have started distancing themselves from the Left Front government and coming closer to Trinamul Congress chief and railway minister Mamata Banerjee after the Left Front suffered unprecedented debacle in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Going a step further, the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce (MCC) has invited Ms Banerjee to address its 109th annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled to be held in October. If everything sails through, Ms Banerjee will be the chief guest in an AGM of a business and industry chamber for the first time.
The chief guest of the 108th AGM of the MCC which was held on September 25, 2009, was Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. However, this time, the chamber is so desperate to get Ms Banerjee as the chief guest that it has even extended the date of its AGM from September to October.
MCC president S.S. Beriwala said, “The MCC is the first chamber which has invited Ms Banerjee as a chief guest for its AGM. We believe that development can come to Bengal only through Mamataji and so she has been invited as the chief guest. She has not yet given her confirmation but we hope that she will be the chief guest at our programme.”
The MCC had sent the invitation letter to Ms Banerjee on August 28. Another letter was sent to her on September 2. Sources at the MCC revealed that the AGM would be held on any day between October 8 and 10 on the availability of Ms Banerjee. “The AGM will be attended by around 700 industrialists and corporate bosses in Bengal,” sources added.
Earlier, Ms Banerjee had attended two meetings organised on the premises of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry while her agitation against “forcible” land acquisition for the Tata Motors’ Nano project in Singur was at its peak. Both meetings were exclusively on the Trinamul Congress’ stand on land acquisition for industries. At that point of time, Ms Banerjee was not the railway minister and the Trinamul Congress had not emerged as such an important player on national political stage.
Since assuming charge of the railway ministry in 2009, she has been making serious efforts to shed her anti-industry tag. Her recent opposition to the politics of bandhs and blockades have been appreciated by the industry.