Mamata to skip opposition meet; cites violence by Left, Cong during strike in WB

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she will boycott the opposition meeting convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on January 13 to protest the violence unleashed in the state allegedly by Left Front and Congress workers during a trade union strike.

The 24-hour nationwide strike by central trade unions in West Bengal on Wednesday was marked by incidents of violence and arson, blocking of railway tracks and roads by protestors trying to enforce the shutdown.

Banerjee said, "double standards" of the Left Front and Congress will not be tolerated.

"I have decided to boycott the meeting convened by Sonia Gandhi on January 13 in New Delhi as I don't support the violence that the Left and Congress unleashed in West Bengal yesterday (Wednesday)," the chief minister said at the state Assembly.

Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of opposition parties, including the Left, to discuss the situation arising out of violence on various university campuses and protests in the country over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.