West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that her current age is just 65 and that is not mentioned in the official records. She said this three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted her on her 70th birthday on Sunday.
In her speech at the ceremony held in one of the auditoria run by the state in the last day of "Students Week" celebrated by the government, the Chief Minister also clarified that her birth year was stretched five years upwards by her father when she entered a local school.
"I was not aware of that. During my graduation days, my elder brother Ajit Banerjee informed me about that. He also informed me that as per the certificate, the age difference between him and me is just six years," Banerjee said even as Ajit Banerjee was present in the audience.
She said that often the real age of people remains hidden.
"Only the fake age as mentioned in the certificate is known by people. Such things were frequent during those days when child delivery at home was rampant. Today my elder brother is present here. So I disclosed this keeping him as a witness. I had earlier referred to this incident in a book penned by me during the early days of my political career," the Chief Minister said.
Banerjee also said she does not like her name "Mamata".
"I do not like my name. But we all have to accept the name and title that we inherit," the Chief Minister said.
Official records indicate that Banerjee was born on January 5, 1955, but that is not her "actual" birth date. Banerjee, in her 1995 memoir "Ekante", has written about her birth, which took place during Durga Puja. The puja is usually held at the end of September or the beginning of October as per the Hindu calendar.
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