Mamata at Hyde Park
Mamata at Hyde Park
“See, I have ensured that you are sufficiently de-stressed,” Mamata Banerjee told Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant.
The 1991-batch IAS officer nodded, having completed a 5km walkathon led by the chief minister through central London. “Yes, madam... exercise does help in destressing,” Pant said.
Mamata, a fitness enthusiast, was at the gates of St James’ Court hotel around 11.50 on Monday morning and took Team Bengal — Pant, her personal security staff, accompanying businessmen and journalists from Calcutta — for a walk that touched some tourist hotspots like Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park before returning to the base.
“We will assemble here again sharp at 3.20pm and head for the Indian high commission programme,” the chief minister said as she retired to her room to get ready for the official event scheduled in the evening.
At the programme hosted by the high commission, Mamata floated the idea of opening a Biswa Bangla store in London and iterated her demand for direct flight connectivity between Calcutta and the UK.
Delegation members urged the Indian high commission to promote investment opportunities in Bengal among the business community in the UK.
After holding a morning meeting with senior officials of the state government, during which she passed instructions to ensure a successful business conclave on Tuesday, Mamata set out for the walk.
“I did aerobics in the morning, which is equivalent to clocking about 5,000 steps.... Now, we will be walking about 5km,” said the chief minister, who briefly jogged and prodded others to pick up speed. The team spent about 45 minutes at Hyde Park.
While those accompanying her had sneakers, track pants and jackets on — the temperature was about 9°C when she began her walk but felt like 5°C because of gusts of wind — Mamata sported a blue jacket and beige shawl and her trademark slippers.
“Walking with slippers, with these socks, is a bit of a problem,” Mamata said.
As she set a brisk pace and strode past Buckingham Palace and headed for Hyde Park, the size of her team shrank as she asked veteran industrialist C.K. Dhanuka of Dhunseri Tea to opt out and take a car back to the hotel.
“You don’t have to walk anymore.... Go back to the hotel and get ready for the Indian high commission programme,” said Mamata, before asking Sanjay Budhia of Patton Group to escort him back to the hotel.
The gloomy and cloudy weather soon gave way to a sunny afternoon. “See, we have begun walking and the weather has improved,” she said. While walking around Hyde Park, she spoke about Calcutta’s Eco Park and the Maidan. She also told the journalists that she was planning another large green patch in the vicinity of Calcutta.
“But I won’t share the details now,” she chuckled. When some members of the group like Lata Banerjee, mother of Trinamool leader and Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, fell behind, she waited for them to catch up.
As she walked along, she kept discussing Tuesday’s business meeting and the Oxford event on Thursday, where she will be accompanied by former cricketer Sourav Ganguly. “There is another programme tomorrow as Manchester City officials will sign up with the Techno India group to set up a football school,” Mamata said.
Debdut Roychowdhury of the Techno India group said an academy to train kids in the age group of 3 to 17 years would be set up with the support of Manchester City, a prominent club of the EPL. “Boys and girls from Bengal, Odisha and northeastern states will be trained at the school by UEFA and Man City-certified coaches,” he said.