He said he also raised the issue of pending dues of the state with the Prime Minister.
Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Raj Bhavan on Friday evening, described it as a courtesy call as per protocol.
Banerjee said she also raised the issue of pending dues of the state with the Prime Minister.
“Apart from talking to the Prime Minister, I mentioned the issues of the state,” Banerjee told reporters after the meeting.
Chief Minister of West Bengal, @MamataOfficial Yes, I met the PM @narendramodi, pic.twitter.com/3imP8iD0Et
– PMO India (@PMOIndia) 1 March 2024
Asked about the issue of Centre’s dues to the state, which the ruling TMC has often raised, Banerjee said, “I had raised that issue too.”
PM Modi, who is coming on a two-day visit to West Bengal from Friday, will rest for the night at Raj Bhavan.
Banerjee’s convoy entered the Governor House soon after the Prime Minister reached there.
Addressing the gathering, Governor CV Anand Bose said he welcomed the PM at the Raj Bhavan.
Bose had also attended the Prime Minister’s official event in Arambagh earlier in the day, where Modi inaugurated, inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several development projects worth over Rs 7,200 crore.
In December last year, Banerjee had met PM Modi in New Delhi to press for the release of state dues.
According to TMC, West Bengal owes Rs 1.18 lakh crore to the Centre.
The central government said it released two tranches of tax transfers to all states on Thursday, with West Bengal getting Rs 10,692 crore, the fourth highest amount after Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
The state government on Monday began payment of Rs 2,700 crore pending from March 2022 to about 30 lakh MNREGA workers.
West Bengal’s withholding of MNREGA dues by the Center has been the focal point of political discussion in the state for the last one year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
