KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to fly to Delhi on Monday as part of her three-day national capital visit where she is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is also learnt that she may meet leaders of opposition parties to discuss Modi’s announcement of repealing the three contentious farm laws.
Sources in the state government said Mamata, during her second Delhi visit since she came to power for the third straight term, might meet PM Modi and Union Home minister Ami Shah and place the state’s
financial demands.
“She may place demand for the state’s financial dues from the Centre before Modi. The issue of increasing the BSF’s jurisdiction is likely to be raised in the meeting with Shah. The West Bengal chief minister strongly opposed the Centre’s decision of increasing the jurisdiction to 50 km from 15 km from international border in a few states,” said an official at Nabanna, the state secretariat.
Political observers in Bengal is seeing Mamata’s Delhi visit after Modi’s announcement on farm laws as significant. It is believed that she may discuss the issue with non-BJP political parties. “She (Mamata) already declared war against the BJP by contesting in Tripura and Goa. Repealing the three farm laws is BJP’s massive face-loss despite the party’s thumping majority in Lok Sabha.
The Bengal CM will definitely utilise it to secure her electoral dividend ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in five states as she is now trying to portray the TMC in the arena of national politics as an anti-BJP force,” said Bishnupriya Dutta Gupta, professor of political science.
Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who was scheduled to land in Agartala, Tripura, on Sunday which was postponed for a day, will hold a roadshow in the capital of the northeast state shortly. Tripura Police on Sunday arrested TMC’s youth wing president Saayoni Ghosh and booked her under non-bailable charges.
Trinamool youth leader arrested in Tripura
Guwahati: Just days ahead of civic polls in Tripura, Bengali actress and TMC youth leader Saayoni Ghosh was arrested by Tripura Police on Sunday. She was booked under various IPC sections, including that for attempt to murder. The incident comes on the eve of Abhishek Banerjee’s road show in state capital Agartala.