Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday rejected suggestions of a bonhomie between her BJP and West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress.She asserted there was nothing much to read over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meet with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during his visit to the state."I don't think there is much to it at all. There is no bonhomie," Sitharaman told media persons here."It is a cooperative federalism which our prime minister has been talking about. To that extent we work with every state government. There is nothing more to it," she said, adding there was no resentment within the party over the issue.With Banerjee sharing the stage with Modi during his recent visit to the state, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Congress have been accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP and the Trinamool of "cosying" up to each other for mutual political interests.
Sitharaman, however, refused to comment on party leader Roopa Ganguly criticizing union minister Babul Supriyo over his apparent closeness to Banerjee.Actor-turned-politician Ganguly, expressing displeasure over Supriyo's closeness to Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, on Saturday had wondered if he has asked the chief minister why his party workers are facing repeated attacks.Supriyo recently travelled with the chief minister in her car during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to the city. He also shared jhalmuri (spicy puffed rice salad) with Banerjee.
Later, Supriyo lavished praise on Banerjee, while she called him a "son of the soil".On Sunday, another party leader from Bengal Joy Banerjee had cautioned Supriyo to maintain a balance as a minister and a party leader.State BJP president Rahul Sinha asserted the Roopa Ganguly-Babul Supriyo issue was a closed chapter."Whatever they have said is now a closed chapter. No one in the party will make any further comment on the issue. The coordination between the centre and state (governments) and the the party's fight against the Trinamool are two different things and should not be mixed," said Sinha.