PM talks to CM on Corona crisis

Kolkata: Amid the ongoing country-wide lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to discuss the present situation in Bengal.

Prime Minister also called up former Presidents Pranab Mukherjee and Pratibha Patil and former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda. He also had a telephonic conversation with political leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Naveen Patnaik, K Chandrasekhar Rao, MK Stalin and Parkash Singh Badal.

The discussion between Modi and Banerjee was all about the present scenario in Bengal in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak and the present lockdown situation. Political analysts are, however, not ruling out the possibility of discussion about the next course of action that needs to be taken to ensure the safety of the people.

People are also eagerly waiting to know whether the lockdown will come to an end on April 15 or the Centre would extend the same.

This comes when 3,577 people tested positive and 83 people died due to COVID-19 in the country while in the state so far 49 people tested positive and three died after being affected by the disease. Earlier on March 20, the Chief Minister had interacted with the Prime Minister via video conferencing. During the interaction, the Chief Minister had raised the issues related to the state. She had informed the Prime Minister about the shortage of kits and the need for setting up of more laboratories for COVID-19 tests.

Later again on March 27, the Prime Minister had called up Banerjee for a discussion on the COVID-19 situation in the state. He had expressed his satisfaction over steps taken by the Bengal government to check the spread of the disease.

Banerjee was the first among all Chief Ministers in the country to speak about the dire condition of the economy of many states including Bengal. She had appealed to the Centre to ensure special packages for all states to fight COVID-19. At the same time, she gave a call to fight the battle together leaving aside all political issues. Similarly, she was the first chief minister to donate Rs 5 lakh to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund in fight against COVID-19. She also donated the same amount to the West Bengal State Relief Fund itself.

Banerjee had also written to her counterparts in 18 states urging them to take care of the migrant labourers from Bengal who are stuck in different parts of the country. Subsequent steps were taken by all the state governments. Her government too provided all support to migrant labourers of other states who are now stranded in Bengal.