Bengal BJP chief underplays Mamata-Modi meeting, calls it ‘protocol’

While the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 20, the BJP Bengal chief has called it a protocol.

Sukanta Majumdar, on Wednesday, said that it's the chief minister who wants to see the PM, and it’s not a meeting. The prime minister has availed time, which he would have done for any other chief minister, he added.

Majumdar said that if Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala CM, whose party has the strongest ideological difference with the BJP, seeks time, the prime minister would be availing the same. “There’s nothing new. If Naveen Patnaik (Odisha CM) asks for it, or any Congress chief minister… this is protocol,” Majumdar said. “In West Bengal, protocol is not followed. If any MLA, MP seeks time, the chief minister doesn’t provide it,” he claimed.

The Bengal chief minister is expected to meet the prime minister and raise the issue of the Centre’s funds to the state that are on a hold. The chief minister had earlier hinted that if an appointment is not provided then a follow-up action could be towards taking up another anti-Centre campaign.

The Trinamool has talked about the fund-freeze issue in all major political meetings in recent times, highlighting it well before the voters. On Tuesday, Banerjee had told a gathering that she would be going to Delhi with Bengal’s demands, and to reclaim state’s rights, which she claimed were curtailed.

The funds that are due, are mainly for the 100-day rural job scheme. Besides, the chief minister has also mentioned other public welfare schemes that are not being supported.

Given the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the fund-freeze issue has become a major point of focus in Trinamool’s politics. The BJP in the state, however, alleges that there’s rampant corruption in the system under the party in power.