Kolkata book fair authorities deny Meghalaya governor slot to hold session

Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy Friday claimed the organisers of the Kolkata book fair backtracked after giving him permission to read his book on Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee there. He said he has decided to visit the publisher's stall on Monday and sign copies of his book. When contacted, GUILD general secretary Tridib Chatterjee declined to comment on the issue. Roy said the organisers had given him permission to hold a book reading session on February 4 but they backtracked citing "unavoidable circumstances".

The book titled 'Bharatkeshari Yugpurush Shyamaprasad', a political critique and life sketch on Mookerjee, was released last month. Roy, who was earlier BJP's West Bengal unit chief, has been a bitter critic of the Mamata Banerjee government.

"A few days back I spoke to Tridip Chatterjee of GUILD, organisers of the fair, and told him that I would like to have a reading session of my new book. "He said he will arrange it and there won't be any problem. But recently he told me that the slot can't be given to me. I don't know why he backtracked," Roy told PTI.

He said it was unfortunate to see the session being cancelled but he had decided to be present at his publisher's stall and sign copies of his books on Monday. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh alleged that the state government has "played a role" in ensuring that Roy doesn't get a slot as the book is on Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

(With inputs from agencies.)