West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee raises issue of pending dues from Centre with PM Narendra Modi!?
According to sources West bengal chief minister and TMC supremo mamata Banerjee’s visit to New delhi and a near certain meeting with prime minister narendra modi on wednesday has the bengal bjp worried. Sources told News18 that the saffron party’s state unit is anxious that any meeting between Modi and mamata months before lok sabha elections could send a “wrong message” and potentially “damage cadre morale” in a state that accounts for 42 seats in the Lower House.Meanwhile Banerjee is scheduled to meet trinamool congress (TMC) MPs at 2:30pm on monday where she is likely to brief them on the agenda of the meeting with PM Modi. Sources said she is likely to meet the prime minister with a delegation in parliament on wednesday morning. Furthermore the West bengal cm will raise the issue of pending dues from the Centre with PM Modi, something that has only been discussed at the ministerial-level so far. The Centre maintains that alleged corruption in implementation of central schemes has resulted in the narendra modi government withholding the supply of funds in certain cases. One of the main schemes for which funds are pending is the mahatma gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The disbursal is dependent on the Centre’s satisfaction with the transparency of the scheme’s implementation, Union Rural Development minister Giriraj Singh had said earlier.Moreover the lawmaker cited another instance from last year when Banerjee surprisingly used softer words for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Singh (RSS), BJP’s ideological mentor. “The RSS was not that bad. There are still people in the RSS who do not support the politics the bjp does,” she had said. Apparently another West Bengal-based senior bjp functionary, who is also a sitting MLA, told that the state unit is “hoping” that the official photos of the meeting “don’t communicate any wrong message”. He recalled a photo from december 5 last year when the Centre called an all-party meeting over the G20 Summit. A photo of PM Modi and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury both laughing and shaking hands went viral.