3 min readKolkataMar 8, 2026 01:49 PM IST
BJP MP Khagen Murmu, who is also the party’s Bengal ST Morcha chief, Sunday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for alleged lapses in protocol while receiving President Droupadi Murmu in the state a day earlier.
On Saturday, President Droupadi Murmu had expressed her dismay over the ‘remote’ location of an event she attended and also the absence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her ministers upon her arrival at the Bagdogra airport in North Bengal.
Addressing media persons, Khagen Murmu said, “Yesterday’s incident is a sad and shameful day for Bengal. She (Droupadi Murmu) is the first citizen of the country; she is not only a tribal woman but the country’s President, and she has been insulted.
“Our president was participating in a program (9th International Santal Conference), and the organisers were not provided the place which they had asked for; the venue was changed. The President, with a lot of pain, stated that if the President goes to any state, it is protocol that the chief minister and other state ministers stay present. It is unthinkable what happened in Bengal. The President came, and neither the CM nor any minister was present to receive her.”
“The Adivasi community has been insulted… Who has given them this right? The CM herself, being a woman, speaks a lot about Bengal’s daughters, but today the daughter of a neighbouring state has been insulted. She has insulted the 12 crore Adivasis of this country,” the BJP leader added.
Khagen Murmu stated that the chief minister was sensing politics in Droupadi Murmu’s comment regarding the lapse in protocol, whereas the President was just expressing her “pain”.
Claiming that Adivasis in Bengal are facing atrocities for supporting the BJP, Khagen Murmu said, “Bengal minister Akhil Giri had insulted the president previously. The Adivasis in Bengal face a lot of atrocities. In 2018, Adivasi women in North Bengal were raped, and they are still waiting for justice.”
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Responding to the President’s remarks, CM Mamata Banerjee had said she and her ministers were never supposed to be present as per the lineup approved by the President’s Secretariat.
Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sought a report from West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty by 5 pm Sunday, on alleged lapses in protocol during President Droupadi Murmu’s visit.
According to sources, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan has directed Chakravorty to submit a detailed report on alleged lapses in protocol for receiving President Droupadi Murmu, including the venue shift for the 9th International Santal Conference and the routes that were selected for the movement of the President.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among other senior BJP leaders, have criticized the TMC-led Bengal government on social media for the ‘glaring disregard for protocol’ during the President’s visit.
