Chief Minister calls on PM at Raj Bhavan, dubs meet ‘part of a courtesy protocol’

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Raj Bhavan on Friday evening. The PM was on a two-day visit to the state from Friday.

After meeting the PM, the Chief Minister outside Raj Bhawan told the media it was nothing political and she had some talks with the PM. “I am here as part of a courtesy protocol. It is a protocol that if the Prime Minister or President visits the state, the Chief Minister has to meet them. Whatever I have to say, I will do it in a political meeting, this meeting was not political,” said Banerjee.

PM Modi stayed at Raj Bhavan Friday night. Earlier in the day he addressed a rally in Hooghly’s Arambagh and inaugurated and laid foundation stones of several projects.

The Chief Minister’s meeting with the Prime Minister comes as the state government has been alleging that the Centre owes about Rs 1.18 lakh crore to Bengal.

The State government has already commenced the payment of dues to approximately 30 lakh MGNREGA workers on Monday, amounting to Rs 2,700 crore, pending since March 2022. The withholding of Bengal’s MGNREGA dues by the Centre has been a focal point in the state’s political discourse for the past year. Earlier in December 2023, Banerjee had met PM Modi in New Delhi to press for the release of the state’s dues.