Mamata Banerjee meets PM Modi in Kolkata, calls it courtesy visit

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who interacted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kolkata's Raj Bhavan on Friday evening, called it a courtesy visit as per protocol.

Banerjee said she also took up the issue of the state's pending dues with the PM. "I mentioned the issues of the state to the prime minister, besides having a chat with him," Banerjee told reporters after the meeting. Asked about the issue of the Centre's dues to the state, which the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been flagging frequently, Banerjee said, "I raised that matter also."

Modi, who is on a two-day tour of West Bengal from Friday, will stay the night at Raj Bhavan. Banerjee’s convoy entered the governor's house shortly after the prime minister arrived there.

Posting on X, West Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose said he received the PM at Raj Bhavan. Bose also attended the prime minister's official programme at Arambagh in Hooghly district earlier in the day, where Modi laid the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over Rs 7,200 crore.

In December last year, Banerjee had met Modi in New Delhi to press for the release of the state's dues. According to the TMC, the Centre owed Rs 1.18 lakh crore to West Bengal.

The Union government has said it released two tranches of tax devolution to all states on Thursday, with West Bengal receiving Rs 10,692 crore, the fourth highest amount after Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

The state government 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 West Bengal's MGNREGA dues by the Centre has been a focal point in the state's political discourse for the past one year.

Earlier in the day, addressing a crowd in Arambagh, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the TMC government over the alleged atrocities against women perpetrated by local TMC leaders in Sandeshkhali, and said the entire country "is seething with anger" over the issue.

Modi also accused the Opposition INDIA bloc for maintaining a stoic silence on the issue of Sandeshkhali.