‘You insulted me’: Mamata Banerjee refuses live broadcast as doctors wait in rain, invites them to have tea instead

Kolkata doctor rape case: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to live stream a meeting with protesting doctors, who had been waiting for over an hour in pouring rain near her residence in Kalighat. As the impasse persisted, Chief Minister Banerjee suggested, “If you don’t want to meet us without live streaming, you are welcome to come to my place for a cup of tea.”

The doctors also demanded that a videographer be allowed into the Bengal CM’s office to record the meeting. The Bengal CM refused to allow it. The TMC chief cited the Supreme Court hearing on the Kolkata doctor rape case to refuse to have an official account of the protesting doctors.

“As the RG Kar case is in court, we cannot allow live telecast,” Mamata said.

“I will take the minutes, I will also sign it,” the Bengal CM tried to convince the agitating doctors to attend the meeting without live telecast.

The chief minister berated the protesting doctors and said they had “insulted” her as they had sought the meeting on September 14 but refused to enter her house. “I waited for two hours,” the chief minister added.

Mamata Banerjee said the West Bengal government could record a video of the meeting but not the protesting doctors. She said the video would be handed over to the protesting doctors only after seeking permission from the Supreme Court of India.

“Shob asks for parina mantis “I cannot answer all your requests,” CM Mamata told doctors.

The protesting doctors in Kolkata said they were not at the CM’s residence to discuss a ‘sub-judice’ issue, so they refused to understand why Mamata Banerjee was refusing to do the same.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked the protesting doctors to “not get wet” in the rain and offered them clean clothes. She also asked the doctors why they were not using the umbrellas provided by security forces around her house.

CM Mamata pointed out that the protesting doctors had not mentioned that 40 people would arrive at her residence. She said her house could not accommodate 40 people at a time. “You will get the minutes of the meeting signed by me,” the CM assured the protesting doctors.

What did the protesting doctors in Calcutta say?

Dr Arnab Mukherjee, a junior doctor who was part of the delegation that met CM Mamata Banerjee, said, “We have requested for live telecast of this meeting. The chief secretary said live telecast is not possible as it is the CM’s residence. We have told the chief secretary that we want live telecast to maintain transparency.”

“We also said to consider our videographer so that he can record the meeting. But the CM security shot the video and they said it was for security reasons. We want a live telecast so that the transparency of this discussion and meeting is maintained and other junior doctors present at the protest site can also know what happened in this meeting. That is why we are waiting outside the main gate of the CM residence as we want a live telecast of this meeting,” the protesting doctor added.