Bengal CM stops address at N 24 Parganas meet midway, scolds district officials over development

North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) [India], November 29 : Charing an administrative review meeting in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Tuesday, ahead of the upcoming panchayat elections in the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rebuked district offiicials over the conduct of development work.
On her maiden visit to Hingalganj in the North 24 Parganas, the chief minister, whose government has been under fire from the Opposition over the teaching recruitment 'scam' and protests over non-payment of dearness allowance (DA) to state government employees at par with the Centre, the chief minister performed 'Pratiki Puja' (nature worship) to protect local residents from attacks by elephants.
The CM was also supposed to distribute warm clothes to locals at the venue of the review meeting but the district administration reportedly failed to fetch them.
Stopping her address midway, a visibly livid Mamata said, "I will be sitting here till the warm clothes supposed to be given to the people reach the venue."
Later, addressing the public meeting in the area, the chief minister said, "I had no intention of holding a meeting here. I was only supposed to perform the puja. Bur I wanted to see for myself if the administration was reaching out to the people here."
The CM also instructed district officials to double up efforts for the development of North 24 Parganas while also asking them to increase the number of buses to and from the district.
Later on Tuesday, the chief minister announced the mangrove-rich Sunderans delta as the 24th district of West Bengal to ease the administrative burden on South 24 Parganas.