by our special correspondent
Mamata Banerjee tasted the wrath of the students protesting against CAA , NPR and NRC as over thousands of students gheraoed her dharna mancha near Dharmatalla protesting her soft stand with Modi on these issues. However Mamata found it tough time to tackle but directed police to keep optimum restraint keeping the police attack on Delhi students.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata Saturday. He arrived in Kolkata amid protests by students. The security has been heightened in the city. The PM is in Kolkata to take part in 150th anniversary celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust.est Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, dubbed her meeting with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as her “Constitutional responsibility” and a courtesy move. The meeting lasted for around 14 minutes at the Raj Bhavan.
This comes even as she faced immense flak from Opposition parties foe boycotting a Congress-led all party meeting in Delhi on CAA and NRC. “It is my constitutional responsibility and also a courtesy,” Banerjee told reporters after the meeting. After meeting the Prime Minister, Banerjee said she asked the PM to withdraw CAA, NPR and NRC. “I told him that maybe this is not an appropriate time for me to say this, but we have been agitating against CAA and NPR. I told him we are against dividing people. No one should face atrocities. Please rethink on CAA. Please withdraw it. He said he is here to attend some scheduled programmes and that such matters can be discussed in Delhi later.”
During his two-day visit, PM Modi will attend sesquicentenary celebrations of Kolkata Port Trust. The visit comes at a time when West Bengal has been witnessing protests against the amended Citizenship Act. The ruling Trinamool Congress students wing as well Left Front activists are protesting against the amended Citizenship Act in various parts of West Bengal today.
Earlier in the evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Raj Bhawan.
Giving details of her meeting with Narendra Modi, Mamata Banerjee said that she told PM Modi that West Bengal was against the CAA and NRC, and both should be re-evaluated and “eventually” withdrawn.
Mamata Banerjee said, “He [Modi] is my guest, so I don’t know whether it was right of me to raise this, but I have clearly stated that we, the people of Bengal, condemn CAA, NPR and NRC. We don’t want any rivalry between any two individuals of the country and would not like to send them away from their homeland. The government should re-consider NRC and CAA. People in Bengal are not accepting NRC and CAA.” Mamata Banerjee added that she met the prime minister regarding some financial demands.The politically significant meeting between the two leaders took place a short time after the PM arrived in the city on a two-day visit.The meeting comes at a time when new citizenship law has emerged as the latest flashpoint in the state, with Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress opposing the contentious legislation tooth and nail, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pressing for its implementation.