Mamata will meet PM next week
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is going to New Delhi next week on a four-day visit. Though the official purpose of her visit is to attend the conference of the chief ministers on the National Counter-Terrorism Centre on May 5, she has several other important programmes, including an extremely crucial meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh possibly on May 4.
According to sources at the chief minister’s office (CMO), an appointment has been sought from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on May 4. “The chief minister has already appealed to the Centre to take a call on giving a three-year moratorium on the repayment of interest and principal amount on the loans taken by the state. The sole objective of the chief minister’s meeting with the Prime Minister is to ask for a bailout package to help West Bengal to tide over the financial crisis,” CMO sources revealed.
In 2011-12, the state government repaid a principal of `7,102 crores and an interest of `16,097 crores to service its accumulated debt of around `2 lakh crores. The state government wants the Centre to allow a complete moratorium on this repayment for three years which means the state exchequer will be to save `69,000 crores in this period. State finance minister Amit Mitra has repeatedly claimed that the state government could do enormous development work with this huge amount. However, the Centre is yet to take a decision although Ms Banerjee who has been persistently demanding the moratorium, on Saturday even set a 15-day deadline for it.
On the other hand, with an aim to pile more pressure on its ally Congress, Ms Banerjee is also likely to meet several leaders of non-Congress and non-BJP parties on Presidential election during her visit to the national capital. A senior Trinamul Congress leader said that she would be busy with these meetings on May 2 and 3. A few days ago, Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Kiranmay Nanda had called on Ms Banerjee at the Writers’ Buildings to discuss several “national issues” including NCTC and the President’s election.
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