It took Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee more than four months to find an opportunity to try and mend a shocking statement of insult against President Droupadi Murmu which came from one of Trinamul ministers.

And Banerjee, in her civic reception to President Murmu at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Calcutta on Monday, left no stone unturned to politically atone for the sin of her minister.

From trying to match the steps of Santhali dancers on stage while wrapped in a traditional tribal attire and trying her hand at the dhamsa, the deep bass tribal drum, to showering the President with traditional gifts crafted by state’s artisans and calling her the “golden lady”… Banerjee did put her best foot forward in trying to impress the nation's First Citizen during her maiden two-day visit to Bengal.

Mamata Banerjee Twitter

In the current heated and polarized political environment in the country with the BJP pinning Rahul Gandhi’s “insults to OBCs” as the basis for his disqualification from Parliament, Banerjee’s grand show of felicitating the country’s first President from the OBC community also carried a politically loaded message, according to many.

A major political dust up was created over Trinamul minister Akhil Giri’s comment about Murmu, deemed misogynistic by many, in November last year. While the party distanced itself from and condemned Giri’s comments and Banerjee tendered a public apology on behalf of the minister, the chief minister paid little heed to the BJP’s demand of removing Giri from his chair.

Putting all that controversy to the backburner, the President lauded Banerjee for her choreography and artistic efforts which “reflected her empathy for tribal culture and her ability to treat all cultures on equal ground”.

Banerjee, on her part, took the opportunity to urge the President to ensure rights of the underprivileged. “You are our Constitutional head. It is my humble submission to you to please protect the Constitutional rights of our poor people. Unity in diversity is our origin and we must never lose sight of it,” she said in her speech.

The programme, however, wasn’t without its share of political controversy. In continuity with the party stand of staying away from Governor CV Ananda Bose’s swearing in and his subsequent ‘Hatey Khori’ (Bengali language learning initiation) functions at the Raj Bhavan, state BJP stayed away from Monday’s felicitation programme of the President. Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP claimed on Monday that he was not invited to President Droupadi Murmu's civic reception this evening.

“Those who queued up to vote against her would take the centrestage and hog the limelight at the felicitation event! Those who queued to vote in her favour are snubbed by the WB Govt and aren’t invited!” Adhikari tweeted.

Rubbishing Adhikari’s claims as lies, the TMC claimed several top BJP leaders, including Adhikari, state president Sukanta Majumdar, and the party’s national vice-president Dilip Ghosh were invited to the programme.

The ruling party shared purported images of the receipts of the invitation cards for the President’s civic reception sent to Majumdar and Ghosh. The signature and seal of the state BJP’s office secretary, along with the date, were on those receipts. It also tweeted another image of the receipt of the same invitation card sent to Adhikari which had a signature but no seal or date.

“BJP Bengal leaders stoop to a new low! Despite being invited to the event scheduled at Netaji Indoor Stadium, they have chosen to boycott it. When it comes to petty politics, BJP India does not even spare the Hon'ble President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu. Shameful!” a tweet from the TMC official twitter handle read.

The party was quick to push a social media counter narrative against the BJP, much in the same lines pursued by the latter against the state’s ruling dispensation during the Giri controversy. Saumitra Khan IS A LIAR! BJP Bengal leaders are nothing but LIARS! And they have NO RESPECT for people belonging to the Santhali community. We caught him and his buddy Suvendu Adhikari LYING IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, sitting in New Delhi. Were these lies approved by you, Amit Shah?” another tweet by the TMC, which followed the previous post, seemed to point at that counter narrative.