Industry Leaders Comb Tagore, Shakespeare To Felicitate Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: Some quoted William Shakespeare, others sang Rabindrasangeet, one said "my son is yours," another said, "what a chakka (sixer) you have hit, the ball's gone out of the stadium". The speakers were captains of industry and chambers of commerce, come together at an event to felicitate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Once the Chief Minister arrived, the host had a clear instruction for the speakers: No suggestions please, only felicitations.

Everyone stuck to the script.  

One of the earliest speakers, Harsh Neotia of Ficci, quoted Tagore and Shakespeare. "There is a tide in the affairs men that taken at the flood leads to fortune," he quoted from Julius Caeser.

More William Shakespeare followed as SA Faisal of the Oriental Chamber of Commerce quoted, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them."

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And then CK Dhanuka, head of the Dhunseri Group, burst into song - a well-known one from Tagore's Tasher Desh: "Amra shobai raja, amader ei rajar rajottay noile mora rajar shonge milbo ki shotte."

An original line came from Radha Kishen Rathi of the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations -- "She is Ma Durga. Now she should become Ma Laxmi and bring plenty to every home."

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Ms Banerjee reciprocated by quoting her favourite Tagore line at the end of her address, "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high."

But before that she shot straight from the hip, urging the assembled industrialists to deliver. "So what if the economy is sluggish," she said. "You can and must make it happen."

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Her strongest batting was for the Goods and Services Tax bill, which is stuck in Parliament. The ruling Trinamool Congress has always backed the bill, but today Ms Banerjee today told her Finance minister, Amit Mitra, who heads a national panel on GST, to hurry it up.

"We are fighting for GST. One tax regime. Else there will be one tax in the morning, one in the evening," she said. "It's a positive tax proposal. Nobody could do it. Now Amit Mitra is leading. Within one two meetings, you have to sort it out. I am opposing the central government, but when there is positive thinking, we are giving support."

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At the end of the day, there was a second standing ovation for the Chief Minister. "If the speeches were flowery, she deserved it," said businessman Rohan Ghosh.