West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed a host of issues including the Assembly’s proposal to rename the State as ‘Bangla’.
Ms. Banerjee said while the move to change the State’s named had topped her agenda, she had also invited Mr. Modi to inaugurate the second-largest coal block in the world, Deocha Pachami, after Durga Puja.
“We discussed changing the name of West Bengal to Bangla and he promised to do something about it,” she told reporters, while describing her meeting as ‘fruitful’.
Asked if the issue of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) had figured in the discussions, she replied in the negative and termed it “an Assam-specific issue”.
When it was pointed out that the BJP had announced plans for a nationwide NRC, she asserted that it would not be done in Bengal. “Neither has any proposal come, nor will it be done... This was a government to government meeting,” Ms. Banerjee added.
The Prime Minister’s Office had earlier tweeted pictures of the two leaders at the official residence of Mr. Modi, where Ms. Banerjee was seen presenting a bouquet to the Prime Minister.
Left parties and the Congress in West Bengal flayed Ms. Banerjee for not raising the NRC issue with Mr. Modi.
“How can she [Ms. Banerjee] say that NRC is Assam’s issue and not a cause of concern for us,” asked Sujan Chakraborty, Leader of the Left Front’s Legislature party. “The entire population of West Bengal is concerned; people across the State are in trouble. The BJP is screaming that they will kick out 2 crore people,” he added.
“NRC is the only political issue on which she had hit the streets after elections and she forgets to mention at the most opportune moment,” remarked Congress MLA and Opposition chief whip Manoj Chakraborty. “This clearly tells that there was some hidden agenda of the meeting,” he contended.
