No resentment in BJP over Mamata-Supriyo bonhomie: Sitharaman

The BJP today refused to attach any importance to Babul Supriyo's praise on Mamata Banerjee or his so called "jhalmuri diplomacy" with the West Bengal chief minister, saying it is a closed chapter.

"I don't think there is much to it at all. There is no bonhomie," Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. The minister said that in a federal structure the Centre worked with every state government. "It is a cooperative federalism that the PM has been talking about. To that extent we work with every state government. There is nothing more to it," Sitharaman said. She was asked if there was any resentment within the party over the 'bonhomie' between the state and the central government.

Supriyo, a singer-turned-BJP MP from Bengal, had shared some light moments with Banerjee over 'jhalmuri' during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the state and showered praise on her on Friday during a programme attended by Coal Minister Piyush Goyal.

State BJP president Rahul Sinha today said that the matter was a "closed chapter".

"Whatever Babul Supriyo has said or Rupa Ganguly has said, the matter has ended. No one in the party will make any comment further. We all have to understand that the corrdination between state and the Centre in federal structure should not be confused with our fight against the TMC in Bengal," he said.

Sitharaman too shared Sinha's view about the BJP's political fight with TMC in West Bengal, saying "the state leadership is in a much better position to comment on it." "West Bengal party unit is a strong unit. I have been holding meetings with the district leaders too. It is essential that the party is strenghtened and made ready for the elections," she said.

Sitharaman, however, refused to comment on the Rupa Ganguly-Babul Supriyo controversy.