Public coined Corona Express, not me: CM -- Mamata Banerjee -Didi rejects Shah charge

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya, TT, 11.06.20, Calcutta: Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday clarified that she had not coined the term “Corona Express” to describe the Shramik Special trains and was only quoting “the public”, a day after Amit Shah had said Bengali migrant labourers would not forgive her for the remark.

“Many of you (the media) misinterpreted… I had never said Corona Express. I had said the public had said. If you take out my statement of the first day (May 29)… I was telling you that the public had been saying so,” said the Bengal chief minister.

“Amphan on one side, Covid-19 on another, a nationwide atmosphere of fear, destruction in work, decimation of plans…. On top of that, amid even a pandemic, instead of standing by the people, rajniti korar j ekta obibechawk durobhishondhi (the inconsiderate malice of doing politics)…. What we can see is that there are only a few who would speak for the people today,” she added, apparently referring to the Union home minister.

Shah had spent considerable time of the BJP’s virtual rally for Bengal on Tuesday, accusing the Mamata government of being apathetic towards the plight of the migrant workers.

He said he had been shocked when Mamata had referred to the Shramik Special trains — meant to ferry migrant workers back to their home states — as Corona Expresses.

“The Bengali migrant labourer will not forgive you for this. The Corona Express will be the reason for your exit,” Shah said.

A Trinamul Congress leader said Mamata’s calm clarification — not the one of her signature aggressive counterattacks — on Wednesday suggested her understanding of the seriousness of the issue and how the BJP was strategising to turn the tables of the migrants crisis on her.

The Trinamul chief had mentioned “Corona Express” twice at a news conference on May 29 while blasting the railway ministry for its alleged mishandling of transportation of migrant workers.

“Why must they (the railway ministry) make four people sit in every seat, for 48-72hours? That too from hotspot states. Why can’t the railway ministry give more trains to ensure social distancing? You won’t do it,” she had said.

Mamata went on: “A mother lying dead in the station, her baby roaming about (referring to the Muzaffarpur incident). Why such utter disregard? In the name of Shramik Express, you want to make Corona Express out of these trains?”

At the same news conference, the chief minister later said: “Do you know what the villagers are saying (about approaching Shramik Special trains)? ‘See, Corona Express is coming! Run away, run away!’ What is this? Law and order problems are being caused because of you (railway minister Piyush Goyal).”

Reacting to Mamata’s clarification, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said on Wednesday: “She doesn’t think before she says things and then she does not own up to what she said without thinking. She has been doing this for a long time. I would advise her to think, long and hard, before saying anything.”