Even as former cabinet minister of West Bengal Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were sent to the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s custody for 14 days, the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.
The West Bengal CM is on a four day visit to the national capital Delhi, during which she will attend the Niti Aayog meeting on August 7 and is also likely to meet Senior opposition leaders. During her meet with PM Modi, Mamata Banerjee raised a host of issues concerning her state, including GST dues and timely release of funds by the Centre under various schemes.
The Prime Minister’s Office shared a picture of the meeting, which lasted about an hour.
In a memorandum to the prime minister, Banerjee said she had repeatedly sought his intervention for urgent release of funds due to the state on account of the implementation of the rural job scheme MGNREGA, PM Awas Yojana and the PM Gramin Sadak Yojana.
“I request for urgent release of funds due to state for implementation of schemes including MGNREGA, PM Awas Yojna & PM Gramin Sadak Yojna… Dues from central govt on these schemes amount to about ₹17996 cr,” Mamata Bannerjee’s letter to the PM read.
The amount due to the state under these schemes now stood at about ₹17,996.32 crore, she said.
Letter further adds, “Substantial amount on account of many developments & welfare schemes… estimated to be around ₹1,00,968.44 cr is also due… With such large amount remaining outstanding, state is facing extreme difficulty to run affairs & take care of people of state.”
Banerjee has often accused the BJP-led central government of delaying the payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) dues to states, especially the ones ruled by opposition parties.
After the meeting, Banerjee directly went to meet President Droupadi Murmu.
Banerjee, who arrived here on a four-day visit on Thursday, is likely to attend a Niti Aayog governing council meeting on August 7 to be chaired by Prime Minister Modi. She did not attend the meeting last year.
Banerjee’s meeting with the prime minister came close on the heels of the Enforcement Directorate arresting now-removed West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee and recovering huge cash and jewellery in connection with an alleged school jobs scam.
However, it was not known if the issue featured in the meeting.
Banerjee’s meeting also holds importance ahead of the August 6 vice-presidential poll, from which her Trinamool Congress party has decided to abstain.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has fielded former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its vice-presidential candidate while the opposition parties have nominated Margaret Alva.
