Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to South Dinajpur has been rescheduled, leading to the BJP and the Congress to criticize the move. The two parties called the changes in the scheduled as a “change in the CM’s attitude and negligence of the district and the people of Balurghat.”

As per a new itinerary of the CM given by district administrative sources, Miss Banerjee will now attend a public rally at Ganarampur on 21 February and instead of the administrative meeting in Balurghat, she will hold a meeting in Raiganj in North Dinajpur the same day.

According to her earlier schedule, Miss Banerjee was supposed to reach South Dinajpur on 20 February and hold an administrative meeting at the Balurghat stadium, while on 21 February, she was expected to attend a public rally at Gangarampur. “However, the plans were changed late last night,” sources said.

“The chief minister will address a public rally and distribute government aid among beneficiaries at the Ganarampur stadium on 21 February. After the public rally, she will fly to Raiganj for an administrative meeting. The meeting will be marked as a joint meeting with all the administrative officers of North and South Dinajpur,” official sources said.

On the other hand, Trinamul Congress leaders of South Dinajpur have started preparations to ensure a big gathering at the Gangarampur stadium. A meeting regarding the same was held yesterday by the district committee of the Trinamul in the presence of all the leaders of the party. However, leaders like Bachhu Hansda, Suvhasish Paul, Satyan Roy, Torab Hussain Mandal were not present in the meeting.

The district president of the BJP, Suvendu Sarkar, said Miss Banerjee has nothing new to say to the people of South Dinajpur. “She is trying to avoid Balurghat and its people. The law and order in the district has deteriorated because of her negligence. She earlier neglected the district at the time of the floods and changed her route to Buniadpur.

As a chief minister, she should give equal importance to every district.” District president of the Congress, Nilanjan Roy, accused Miss Banerjee of “changing her political tactics” after she became the CM. “With the change in power, our chief minister has also changed. She used to frequently visit Balurghat and South Dinajpur when she was our opponent.

But now she is the chief minister and she is avoiding the district and its people.” Bipllab Mitra, the district president of the Trinamul Congress, however, said the CM will address a rally in Gangarampur and launch more than 100 new projects for the people of South Dinajpur. “Several projects are ready to be unveiled. The opposition has no issue to debate, and now they are developing controversies on her visit,” he said.