Rachna Banerjee is Trinamool MP from Bengal's Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency
Trinamool Congress MP Rachana Banerjee's "quintals of water" remark during a visit to flood-affected areas has sparked a meme fest on social media. The Hooghly MP was visiting flood-hit areas in the district Tuesday. Speaking to the media, she said, "Quintals and quintals of water have come. The situation is so unfortunate that people don't have homes, they are on the street now."
Large quantities of water are measured in cusecs and the quintal unit the Trinamool MP used is a measure of mass and is widely used for foodgrains and other eatables.
An actor and anchor of the popular TV show Didi No. 1, Ms Banerjee became a Lok Sabha MP this year after she defeated sitting BJP Locket Chatterjee in the general election.
Her quintal remark set off a meme fest as social media users ridiculed the Trinamool leader. "Learnt today that water can be measured in quintals. There is no end to learning," said a Facebook user. Others questioned the "wisdom" of voters in electing her. Some users, however, spoke in her defence and said everyone doesn't need to know everything. Some also said it could be a slip of the tongue.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said 28 people in Bengal have died after several south Bengal districts were flooded due to heavy rain and the release of water from dams managed by Damodar Valley Corporation.
The Damodar Valley Corporation functions under the Centre's Ministry of Power. Ms Banerjee said the Centre was welcome to shift the DVC headquarters from Kolkata. "Let them (Centre) take it (DVC) away. I do not care. They have removed everything from Kolkata and there is nothing left. They keep a building in Kolkata, but will not listen to Kolkata and keep on releasing water inundating Bengal and killing people," she said.