more-in Controversy related to cancellation of Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Chicago to commemorate 125 years of his address by Swami Vivekananda continues to snowball as Trinamool Congress (TMC) issued a rebuttal against Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). TMC’s national spokesperson and MP Derek O’Brien said on Thursday that MEA’s argument is “low on facts.” “Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago, on the occasion of 125 years of the historic address by Swami Vivekananda, had invited Mamata Banerjee to attend a programme in Chicago. "The Chief Minister of West Bengal confirmed her participation to them. Subsequently, it is learnt, that under ‘tremendous pressure’ the organizers were prevailed upon to cancel the programme,” Mr O’Brien noted in a statement on Thursday afternoon. “It is common knowledge that the BJP-RSS wanted only one major programme to be held in Chicago and that would be under the banner of the Global Hindu Congress [World Hindu Foundation] and this programme would be attended by Mohan Bhagwat,” he said and added that in order to stop Ms. Banerjee from visiting Chicago “intense pressure was mounted on Vivekananda Vedanta Mission in Chicago”. On Wednesday, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the MEA did not receive any request for clearance of Ms. Banerjee’s visit to Chicago. "We did not receive any request for clearance regarding the visit of Ms. Mamata Banerjee to Chicago for the event. The reports about the denial of permission are, therefore, not true," he said, while answering a question. Earlier, on Tuesday, Ms. Banerjee alleged that the Ramakrishna Mission was “threatened” to cancel the scheduled event at Chicago on August 26. Ms. Banerjee argued that some “unholy conspiracy” was hatched to stop her from attending the event. “I am not blaming the Ramakrishna Mission. But as far as I know they were threatened in several ways,” said Ms. Banerjee, while speaking at an event at Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math. On Thursday, Mr. O’brien also released the statement from the U. S. Consulate General, Kolkata. The statement noted that the U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata “is pleased to hear that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is interested in visiting the United States as there have been no visits by a Chief Minister from West Bengal in many years”. “The Chief Minister’s visit would be a good opportunity for her to highlight the possibilities in the economic and trade relationship with the United States and to experience America first hand. At this stage there have been no discussions with the U.S. Consulate General regarding the Chief Minister’s possible visit,” the U.S. Consulate statement noted. The U.S. Consulate General’s statement was received from Mr. O’Brien and not from the Consulate office.

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