On the day when West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay was asked to report to the ‘Department of Personnel and Training’ in New Delhi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, confirming that the state is not going to release Bandopadhyay.

She also urged him to withdraw the letter of recall so that Bandopadhyay could continue to head the administration in the difficult times of the Covid crisis and in the aftermath of Cyclone Yass.

“I humbly request you to withdraw, recall, reconsider your decision and rescind the latest so-called order in the larger public interest.

“The Government of West Bengal cannot release and is not releasing, its Chief Secretary at this critical hour, on the basis of our understanding that the earlier order of extension, issued after lawful consultation in accordance with applicable laws, remains operational and valid.

“The latest order is also clearly in violation of applicable laws and against public interest: it is, in any case, ab initio void,” the chief minister wrote.

“I sincerely look forward to earnest federal cooperation in these grim times, the spirit in which I had flown to Kalaikunda to see you on 28th May 2021. I am sure that you will not inflict further suffering on the people of this state by taking away the services of an experienced officer (the head of the bureaucratic cadre in the State), suddenly without any consultation and with no prior notice whose continued presence in my State in these difficult times is accepted to be vital and necessary by your government even 4 days back,” she added.

Expressing her shock over the unilateral decision taken by the Centre, the chief minister wrote, “The unilateral ‘order’ comes without any prior consultation whatsoever with the Government of West Bengal, without any volition/option of the officer, without meeting any of the pre-conditions of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954 and other applicable laws under reference. The unilateral order/directive is legally untenable, historically unprecedented and wholly unconstitutional”.

The chief minister was referring to the letter written by the Department of Personnel and Training where Bandopadhyay was asked to join the central government on May 31.

Bandopadhyay was supposed to retire normally on May 31, but he was given an extension of three months following the state government’s request.

“Only a few days back, on my request, you had kindly allowed, and the Government of India had issued an order to extend his service for 3 months as Chief Secretary, beyond 31st May 2021 for the purpose that he could serve the State severely affected by the second wave of the pandemic of COVID-19 (like the rest of the country) in critical times, which has further been devastated by an extremely severe cyclone,” Banerjee wrote.

In her five-page letter, she also said, “I really do not understand what happened between your allowing extension to the officer as Chief Secretary a few days back on 24th May 2021 after Centre-State consultation to enable him to serve the State of West Bengal in these times, and your unilateral order (4 days later) issued in contradiction to the extension granted by you”.

“Bengal in these times, and your unilateral order (4 days later) issued in contradiction to the extension granted by you. The unilateral order also does not provide any details, reasons, and/ or particulars as to why ‘central deputation of Sri Alapan Bandyopadhyay IAS, Chief Secretary, West Bengal required suddenly by you only a few days after granting an order of extension following, due consultation process,” she alleged.

In a surprise development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday skipped a review meeting conducted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Kalaikunda Air Force Station near Kharagpur to assess the damages caused by severe cyclonic storm Yaas that hit the state on Wednesday.

The review meeting snowballed into a political controversy after Banerjee personally met the Prime Minister before the meeting and submitted a copy of the damages caused by the cyclone to him.

She even left the Air Force Station before the meeting commenced.

Sources in the administration confirmed that Banerjee had asked for a separate meeting with Modi ahead of the review meeting convened by the Prime Minister.

Accordingly, a slot of 15 minutes was allotted during which Banerjee submitted a detailed report of the damages caused by the storm, mainly in three districts, to Modi.

Though there has been no official briefing on the meeting between the two leaders so far, sources close to the Chief Minister confirmed that the state government has submitted in the report that Bengal incurred damage to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore due to the severe cyclonic storm.

According to the state government officials, three districts faced the brunt of the cyclone the most — South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, and East Midnapore.

Digha, Shakarpur, and Mandarman — the three major tourist hubs of the state — were the worst affected by the storm.

In the 15-minute meeting, Banerjee briefed the Prime Minister about the damages caused to the agricultural fields, residential buildings, embankments, and roads.

The Chief Minister then flew to Digha to take stock of the situation. Before her brief meeting with the Prime Minister, Banerjee conducted two administrative meetings — one at Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas and another at Sagar in South 24 Parganas.

Though the Chief Minister had said on Thursday that she would attend the review meeting with the Prime Minister, things started to change news surfaced that BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari will also be present in the meeting.

Adhikari, who was informed by the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday night, reached Kalaikunda at 1 pm in the afternoon and is attending the review meeting. State Minister for Irrigation and Waterways, Somen Mahapatra, is expected to be attending the meeting on behalf of the state government.

Besides announcing a grant of 1,000 crores for relief operations in areas affected by Cyclone Yaas, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced that the restrictions imposed in the state in the wake of the pandemic will continue for another 15 days.

The government will review the situation again on June 15.

Congratulating the people for cooperating with the state government that has led to the slow-down of the Covid infection rate, Banerjee said, “Though the infection rate has reduced, the state government has decided to continue on with the restrictions for another 15 days. We are thankful that the people have cooperated with us and we have started getting good results but I urge the people to bear the hardship for a little longer. We will review the situation on June 15 and then decide the next course of action”.

However, the chief minister announced some relaxations for jute and construction workers. “There have been several requests from Punjab and so we have decided to increase the workforce in jute industry from 30 per cent to 40 per cent but they will have to adhere to all the Covid norms. The construction workers can also go to work provided they have proper vaccination. It is the responsibility of the employers to vaccinate their employees from private places. If they are vaccinated then they can join the work,” the chief minister said. “The rest of the conditions, as declared before, will prevail,” she added.

Speaking on the occasion of a review meeting with the officials related to relief and rescue work, CM Banerjee said that the government has sanctioned a fund of Rs 1,000 crore for the relief measures but she cautioned that the money should go to the right beneficiaries. Detailing out the mechanism which is in line with ‘Duare Sarkar, the chief minister said, “From June 3 to June 18 there will be relief camps in the affected blocks and Gram Panchayats, where the people will come and register themselves giving the details of their damage along with their personal and bank details. Like ‘Duare Sarkar’ it will be ‘Duare Relief’.

“The government will inspect all the applications for the next 15 days – from June 16 to June 30 — and make a list of the beneficiaries. Once the list of beneficiaries is prepared, the state finance department will start disbursing funds according to the damage and the estimation prepared at the block and panchayat levels. The entire disbursement process will be complete by July 8. The money will be transferred directly to the account of the beneficiaries. There will be nobody in between. The transaction will be directly done to the beneficiary by the government,” she added.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who lost to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, is likely to contest from Bhawanipur.

Bhawanipur sitting Trinamool MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay has submitted his resignation to the Speaker on Friday. However, Chattopadhyay is likely to continue as a cabinet minister and contest from some other seat.

Sources in the party said that the party has decided Banerjee will contest from her traditional winning seat — Bhawanipur in South Kolkata.

Banerjee had in the last two assembly elections contested and won from the Bawanipur seat but this time she decided to contest from Nandigram in East Midnapore against turncoat Suvendu Adhikari. Banerjee was, however, defeated by Adhikari.

Though Banerjee was sworn in as the chief minister of the state, according to the rule she will have to become an MLA within six months after the formation of the government.

Party sources indicated that Banerjee expressed her willingness to contest from Bhawanipur and so Chattopadhyay who is now the state agriculture minister has been asked to resign from that seat.

Chattopadhyay, who submitted his resignation to Speaker Biman Banerjee in the afternoon, said that he had resigned following the party’s decision. The minister, however, didn’t divulge other details saying that he would do whatever party will ask him to do.