Mamata arrives in Delhi to meet PM on debt waiver

Chief Minister of eastern Indian state of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee will seek an interest waiver for her state on the repayment of huge debt during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Monday. She arrived in the capital in the evening. “I shall meet the PM tomorrow to secure our rights. I am not going to Delhi seeking alms. The state should get its rights,” she said in Kolkata before leaving for Delhi.

Banerjee, considered to be a strong critic of Modi, is expected to make a fervent plea for waiving the state’s debt, which was taken by the earlier regime. Before meeting Modi, the first one between the two leaders since Modi became the prime minister, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will have an interaction with all her party MPs. She had earlier skipped the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Ayog meeting called by Modi where chief ministers of several states were present. She is also likely to meet Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on March 10.