'Mamata Banerjee is like Mother Teresa, Goddess Saraswati'

Kolkata, July 26: Trinamool Congress MP Idris Ali likened party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Mother Teresa and Hindu Goddess Saraswati in the Lok Sabha here on Monday.

Idris Ali, who recently hit the headlines for defending televangelist Zakir Naik, said, "I am deeply grateful to our honourable Chief Minister, who is in our eyes like Mother Teresa."

Ali went a step further and compared Banerjee to Goddess Saraswati too, saying, "We believe that our honourable Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is like Goddess Saraswati as she is doing a lot of developmental work for the state."

"She should not be disrespected in any manner. If she is disrespected, then the state of West Bengal feels humiliated and we are never going to accept that."

The Lok Sabha member from Basirhat made the comparison while seeking the central government's attention to development projects in his constituency.

"People in my constituency are mainly daily wagers and therefore financial transactions are primarily done during the evening. There is a need for an evening branch of a Public Sector Bank in Basirhat constituency. I demand that Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) take steps in this regard," he said.

When asked why he made such a laudatory speech in the lower house of parliament, the lawmaker told IANS: "I said all that because I believe so."

"Mamata Banerjee is working selflessly for the people of West Bengal. I have also seen Mother Teresa working very closely."

On drawing the comparison with the goddess, Ali said, "I am not the first person to do so. A year ago Pakistani Ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali had compared Mamata Banerjee to Goddess Saraswati at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata."

IANS