West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Raj Bhavan on Friday evening to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is presently on a two-day tour of the state. The meeting, conducted as per protocol, commenced shortly after the Prime Minister's arrival.
“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,” clarified West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee about her meeting, as reported by news agency PTI.
This visit follows Mamata Banerjee's previous meeting with PM Modi in New Delhi last December, where she advocated for the release of West Bengal's dues from the Centre, amounting to Rs 1.18 lakh crore. The state government recently initiated the payment of pending dues to approximately 30 lakh MGNREGA workers, totaling Rs 2,700 crore, which had been withheld since March 2022. The delay in disbursing West Bengal's MGNREGA dues has been a significant topic in the state's political discussions over the past year.