State party president Dwipen Pathak said he was resigning from his post because of Mamata Banerjee’s “lack of knowledge” on the NRC issue

New Delhi: West Bengal is not taking part in an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pair states from different parts of the country for cultural exchange.

Cultural representatives from 28 states and 7 Union Territories agreed to be a part of the initiative called ‘Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat’ pairing except the state of West Bengal, Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma told News 18.com.

In a meeting in Kutch, Gujarat, Modi had taken the decision to “pair of states for the purpose of bringing the country closer and acquainting one state with the folk art and culture of another”.

Sharma made the comments at an event unveiling the plans of Madhavpur Ghed Mela to celebrate the legend of Krishna-Rukmini marriage.

The government is going to celebrate this on March 25 to March 29 and bring the north east closer to other parts of the country. Rukmini is believed to come from the north east and was married in Gujarat.

This is not the first time that Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal ignored Centre’s directives or programmes. Last year, the state had also declined to be part of Modi’s ‘New India Mission’ and rejected the administration of ‘Sankalp se Siddhi’ pledge to all students. She took a stand against the format suggested by the HRD ministry for the celebrations to mark Independence Day in 2017.

The initiative is being taken care of by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Culture and Sports Ministry. All three are working to bring the country closer culturally and celebrate the folk traditions, sports and education. The pairing is applicable till December 2018. Next year, the states will be paired differently.

According to the table available - Madhya Pradesh is paired with Manipur and Nagaland; Tamil Nadu is paired with Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat is paired with Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh with Kerala, Maharashtra is paired with Odisha, Chandigarh with Dadra Nagar Haveli, Uttar Pradesh paired with Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, Punjab goes with Andhra Pradesh, Goa with Jharkhand, Bihar with Tripura and Mizoram, Lakshadweep with Andaman and Nicobar, Karnataka with Uttarakhand, Haryana with Telangana, Delhi with Sikkim, Rajasthan with Assam, Puducherry with Daman and Diu.

“This is list of participation shows that PM’s meeting had rewarding results, though West Bengal is not there. The pairing of states is a big milestone – people from different states will know about each other’s culture. We have a heritage that is our strength, and we will lead the way globally in cultural exchange,” Sharma said.

Under the pairing there will be food festivals, display of art and culture, inter-state excursions by school and college students, Karnataka agreed to invite 600 students from the paired Uttarakhand state for Hampi Festival, there were quiz painting competitions on the history, culture and biodiversity of the pairs etc.