Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had called her up on Monday, asking her to attend the INDIA bloc's meeting scheduled for Wednesday, and she had expressed her inability to take part in the talks.
Mamata said she had advised the Congress to ensure that chief ministers were given a notice of seven-10 days for such exercises given their packed schedules.
The Wednesday meeting was called off because of other engagements by several leaders of the INDIA grouping's constituents.
Instead of the meeting, various constituents of the national bloc of anti-BJP parties gathered for a dinner hosted by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday.
Trinamul's leaders in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Sabha Derek O'Brien, respectively, were expected to attend the dinner meeting that included Rahul, but both were absent.
"I was not informed also, earlier. But the day before yesterday, Rahulji phoned me, and he told me about the meeting," said the Trinamul Congress chief — a foremost leader of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance — at the Calcutta airport on Wednesday afternoon, before departing for her tour of north Bengal.
"Then I said (to Rahul) 'nobody told me, and I did not know'. Because I had my programme, and also for other chief ministers, sometimes they are also busy," she added, suggesting it was problematic for chief ministers if they were not given at least a week's notice. "If they (chief ministers) don't know the programme seven days or 10 days (in advance)."
When journalists had asked her about it on Monday evening, she had said she was not aware of the meeting and had already made plans.
“I had no information on this. I was not even telephoned. I am going to north Bengal…. Had I known, I could have made my plans accordingly. How do I change everything now?” she had asked, before the call from the Wayanad MP.
Citing DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin's example, Mamata said on Wednesday. "See, so much rainfall in Tamil Nadu."
"A chief minister cannot come away during a disaster. We are concerned about Tamil Nadu...," she added, referring to the torrential downpour and flooding caused by the indirect impact of Cyclone Michaung in the southern state.
Sources said the Congress's Revanth Reddy, scheduled to be sworn in as Telangana's chief minister on Thursday, had invited Mamata to the event, but she would not be able to go on account of her north Bengal commitments. Sources said at Reddy's swearing-in, O'Brien would be present as Mamata's representative.
Mamata said another meeting of INDIA would take place soon, so there was no cause for worry.
On Monday, in the Bengal Assembly, Mamata had attributed the responsibility of the BJP’s sweep of three Hindi heartland states to the Congress, refusing to entertain the idea that the results declared on Sunday would have a bearing on the general election next year, and asserting confidence that a consolidated INDIA, with a proper seat-sharing arrangement, would ensure the saffron regime’s defeat.
Her party had on Sunday placed the blame of the BJP’s sweep squarely on the Congress, refusing to give any credit to Narendra Modi or his party, demanding consolidation of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance under the guidance of seniors such as her, without further ado.
Mamata said in the House that timely seat-sharing would have averted the sweep of the three states by the BJP.
“I firmly believe that if there is seat-sharing, the BJP government will not return in 2024…. Be sure, INDIA will work together. We will rectify mistakes. One mistake teaches many lessons. Only criticism will not serve any purpose," she had said. “The victory was but one of vote katakati (division). It is not a case of darun phataphati (extraordinarily spectacular). This is only a vote kata (split) victory… wrong policy responsible for it."
Sources in the party said the Trinamul leadership was not entirely displeased with the outcome in those three states, as they would ensure the Congress’s restraint in the INDIA space, with the ability of the likes of Mamata to push further for the so-called 1:1 formula – having only one INDIA candidate with the highest winnability in as many of the 543 Lok Sabha seats as possible.