Mamata to meet Modi today

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a four-day visit to the national capital, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Chief Minister would be discussing several important issues like the extension of the territorial area of the Border Security Force, the recent political violence in Tripura and the dues of the state which according to the Trinamool government are pending with the Central government.

Banerjee had earlier criticised the Centre and the BJP government in Tripura for unleashing violence on the Trinamool Congress and had said that she would talk to the Prime Minister on this issue.

Speaking to the media before going to Delhi on Monday evening, the Chief Minister had said: "I shall speak to him on the extension of jurisdiction by the BSF. They are bulldozing the states in the name of cooperative federalism. This cannot continue. I shall speak to the Prime Minister about it," she had said.

She had expressed her displeasure regarding the recent violence in Tripura just before the civic polls.

"Where did the Human Rights Commission go?" she asked. The whole country has witnessed the assassination of democracy in Tripura. In such a BJP-ruled state, people are suffocating. Why there is no word about the Human Rights Commission and Article 355 in our case in Tripura. What has happened now?" she asked.

The Chief Minister went on to say, "How many letters have been sent to the Tripura government from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. They used to send letters to us regularly. In our state there was an election. So many leaders came here regularly. We did not stop anyone. Why is this happening in Tripura?

Bannerjee, who had gone to Delhi on November 25, is likely to return to Kolkata on Thursday. -IANS