Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has cancelled her proposed visit to London. Ms Banerjee who had been invited to deliver a lecture on “The Rising Power” at the Cambridge University on October 25, was scheduled to leave for London on October 23.
“I am grateful to the Cambridge University authorities for inviting me. However, I am unable to attend the programme because of the prevailing situation in the state,” she said. The ostensible reason for her change of mind was that she did not want to leave the state at this juncture because she feared that the CPI(M) would step up violence against her partymen in the villages in her absence.
Party insiders, however, revealed that her decision had been prompted by reports that her bete noire CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat had also been invited to deliver a lecture at the 800-year-old university. “Didi was very upset after she read the news in a Bengali daily this morning. She immediately decided to cancel her proposed visit. Although senior party leaders tried to impress upon her the importance of an invitation from one of the world’s most prestigious universities, she stuck to her decision,” a Trinamul Congress MP said. Incidentally, Mr Karat’s lecture is on October 23 and he would not have crossed her path.
During her London sojourn, Ms Banerjee was also scheduled to attend a programme at Hampstead.