Cold shouldered by West Bengal's Trinamool Congress government and on the wrong side of a controversy for sharing the stage with an alleged criminal, Babul Supriyo's first visit to his home state after taking over as minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's govenrment has been anything but perfect.The singer-turned-MP-turned Union Minister of State for Urban Development tried to downplay the snub from the state government by "giving the benefit of doubt" to his state counterpart, Firhad Hakim, and the bureaucrats who had played truant.Expressing concern over the large number of pending projects, especially under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Supriyo had called a meeting with central and state urban development officials in Kolkata and his Asansol constituency.
Adopting a confrontationist attitude against the BJP-led central dispensation, the Mamata Banerjee government and its officials however preferred to ignore Supriyo's repeated requests for the meeting.
Political observers feel the Trinamool would not like to be seen cosying up to a BJP minister, especially at a time when the saffron party is aggressively trying to project itself as a viable alternative to the Banerjee government in the 2016 assembly polls.
In fact, the Trinamool had ridiculed Supriyo as a "half pant" minister the very day he was inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's team of ministers. Senior Trinamool leader and state Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee had laughed at Supriyo's elevation, saying a minister of state was powerless."BJP leaders used to ridicule our ministers of state in the UPA-II government describing them as half-pant ministers. Now what message they have given to the state by sending him as MoS," Mukherjee had said.Eager to work with the state government for developmental projects, Supriyo expressed his disappointment."All I can say is that it is unfortunate. I tried to contact Hakim but in vain," Supriyo told IANS.
He, however, gave the "benefit of doubt" to the state government, saying the meeting was called at short notice.On the contrary, Supriyo sought the guidance of his predecessors in the department - Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy and Congress' Deepa Dasmunsi.The failed meetings were not the end of Supriyo's woes. He was also accused of patronising criminals after he was publicly felicitated by a partyman accused of coal smuggling and robbery in Burdwan district's Andal, under his constituency.Trinamool councillor and Burdwan INTUC chief Prabhat Chatterjee was quick to latch on the opportunity, leading a procession against the BJP's alleged links with the coal mafia.
"Since the Lok Sabha polls, we have been saying that the BJP was hand in glove with the coal mafia and this has now come true," said Chatterjee claiming that the man who garlanded Supriyo was a noted criminal who had spent time in jail.Leaving behind the disappointments, the Asansol MP announced he would adopt a small village on the Bengal-Jharhand border - Sidhabari - for development.Populated mostly by tribals, the village falls under Supriyo's Lok Sabha constituency."I shall take proper care of the village's restructuring and the welfare of the residents," Supriyo told IANS.