Chief minister Mamata Banerjee called on the family of Trinamul Congress councillor Ram Pyare Ram on Monday evening and spent time consoling the members following the death of Ram Kinkar, the leader’s son, in a road accident in Kidderpore in southwest Kolkata on Saturday.
Mamata spent over 15 minutes talking to Ram Pyare and wife Hema before interacting with Ram Kinkar’s wife and other members of the family.
“She heard us patiently for some time. Before leaving she asked me to hold the family together in these trying times and have faith in god,” Ram Pyare told The Telegraph after Mamata left Ram’s Kidderpore home.
“The chief minister offered whatever solace she could to lessen our pain.”
Mamata later posted on her Facebook page: “I met with our councillor Shri Ram Pyare Ram today, who recently lost his son in a tragic accident. My thoughts and prayers are with his family members, in this hour of grief. May his soul rest in peace.”
Senior police officers said that after reaching the councillor’s home, the chief minister issued an order that no one from outside the family be allowed in the home so long she was there as she wanted to interact solely with the family members.
Officers said the chief minister expressed her wish to visit Ram Pyare Ram, a veteran leader from the port area, soon after she wrapped up a political rally of the Trinamul Congress Chhatra Parishad on Mayo Road.
“This was an unscheduled visit,” said an officer.