New Delhi/Kolkata:
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi this evening to discuss the financial situation of West Bengal and seek central funds for her debt-ridden state. The meeting coincides with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kolkata today to address industrialists.
Here are the 10 developments in this story:
Ms Banerjee has said she "will seek economic justice" and protest against an "economic blockade" by the Centre during her meeting with the Prime Minister.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool government, which came to power in 2011, faces a huge debt of about Rs 2 lakh crore and has been demanding special packages in the form of a waiver on paying interest for some time. The Chief Minister has alleged that the Centre is taking away Rs 25,000 crore in interest on loans, besides the Rs 40,000 crore in central taxes from her state.
"We are not begging. We are not demanding any special package. We are demanding our rightful share," Ms Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata before leaving for Delhi on Monday.
Ms Banerjee, who is accompanied by her Finance Minister Amit Mitra, has blamed the Left Front, which ruled Bengal for more than 30 years before she dislodged it, for the state's financial troubles.
In Delhi today Ms Banerjee is also scheduled to meet Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. A meeting with Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday is also likely.
Her arch rival in her state, the Left, alleges that the Delhi trip is a ploy to rebuild ties with the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. Ms Banerjee, with her 19 MPs, had walked out of the UPA last year to protest against reform measures.
The Left has also alleged that the Chief Minister has timed her trip to coincide with the visit of Narendra Modi as she is "shy of meeting" him. Mr Modi will address Bengal's top industrialists in Kolkata today.
Ms Banerjee has however insisted that her visit to New Delhi is not political and will focus "entirely on the state's financial situation."
While the BJP says it expects a full house at Mr Modi's meet today, some of Bengal's topmost industrialists are likely to skip it amid speculation that they do not want to upset Mamata Banerjee.
The BJP in Bengal says Ms Banerjee's government has not made it easy to welcome Mr Modi to Kolkata. The party had tried to book a stadium that seats 12,000 people for a reception, but could not get the venue. When the BJP wrote to Ms Banerjee to help, it says she refused. Mr Modi will now interact with Industry at the Oberoi Grand Hotel.
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