The occasion was the foundation ceremony of a Metro Railway hospital at Tollygunj on Friday. Sitting at a corner of the dias, aloof from others, the Jadavpur MP spoke very little despite much cajoling by some of the leaders.

Suman, who had invited the wrath of Banerjee for criticising the functioning of the party, got into another tiff recently after he released an album called Chattradharer Gaan (Songs of Chatradhar) praising Chattradhar Mahato, leader of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) of Lalgarh, from whom the party is trying to distance itself.

The Jadavpur MP had claimed the songs were from his heart. Banerjee, however, said the party does not endorse the content of the album. Banerjee, who had earlier described Suman as a “honoured guest” introduced him as an MP who is a “big artiste”.

“I don’t know why an artiste does not get his due regard. Tapan Sinha did not get the respect he deserved in his lifetime but he was never bothered by it,” Suman said in his two-minute speech at the programme, which saw Nachiketa, Anup Ghosal and Gautam Ghosh belt out popular numbers. But Suman, who used to perform on such occasions, chose to sit out this one. He also stayed away from the artistes and Trinamool ministers and leaders who chose to end the programme with a chorus of “We shall overcome”.

Banerjee, meanwhile, also inaugurated the Mobile ticketing Van “Mushkil Aasan” at the function. The van, she said, will make tickets available at the local market from 10 am to 4pm.