Arjun Singh summoned by BJP's central leadership

Kolkata: A day after BJP MP from Barrackpore wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urging her to intervene in the in the raw jute price cap issue that is "affecting" the sector, the BJP leadership summoned the former to New Delhi.

Singh who left for Delhi on Saturday late afternoon is scheduled to meet Textile minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday night. Alleging that the Centre's jute policy is a "flawed" one, Singh wrote to chief ministers of five states —West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, and Tripura — requesting them to flag the issue of capping raw jute prices. Singh claimed that he had sent a strong protest letter to Goyal on April 19 but no response has been received.

Singh has already extended support to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in its stiff opposition to the Centre on the jute price cap. He had said that he would strongly protest till Centre does not revoke the Rs 6,500 per quintal price cap on jute which according to him will affect 45 lakh jute industry workers in Bengal.

He further made it clear that he would be present if TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee convenes a meeting in the matter. His parliamentary constituency, Barrackpore, has about 20 jute mills and more than half of the mills are presently closed.

Singh's sudden outburst on the jute issue has also led to speculations that whether he is quitting the saffron party.