Hours before she left for New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Sunday that she is not going to Delhi seeking alms but will be pressing for the rights of the State.
“I shall meet the Prime Minister on Monday to secure our rights. I am not going to Delhi seeking alms. The state should get its rights,” she said on Sunday while inaugurating a flyover on way to the airport.
This is the first time since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office that Ms. Banerjee will be meeting him. One of the most vocal critics of Mr. Modi, she was absent at the Niti Aayog meeting held in the Capital last month.
The Chief Minister is accompanied by a delegation comprising Finance Minister Amit Mitra and Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra.
“We have waited for over three-and-a-half years and had given a test of our patience. We have already paid over Rs. 1 lakh crore debt so far. Also, we waited so long till the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission,” Ms. Banerjee said.
She had written to Mr. Modi last month seeking an appointment and urging him to consider the debt waiver immediately. Ms. Banerjee had claimed that she was pinning her hopes on the 14th Finance Commission which failed to provide any major relief to the debt stressed State and she is being forced to meet the Prime Minister.
She had met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Ministers during the UPA regime seeking similar relief from the Centre.
Leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) tried to give political motive to the meeting referring to the ongoing probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the Saradha scam. CPI (M) leader Mohd Salim alleged that after Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Mukul Roy has entered into understanding with the BJP, Ms Banerjee is also following the same path.
“It is just meeting between a Chief Minister and Prime Minister and people do not care what CPI(M) says,” TMC leader Firhad Hakim said on the allegations made by the CPI(M).
