West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with a delegation of TMC MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The CM of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the dues of the state. Central and state officials will hold a joint meeting on Fund issues soon.

Banerjee said she had earlier written several letters to the Prime Minister in this regard and had also met him during her previous visits to Delhi with the same demand.

After the meeting, at a press conference Mamata said, ‘I had a meeting with the Prime Minister along with nine MPs. I have requested to settle the state’s dues. The Prime Minister said the central and state officials will hold a joint meeting.

‘I have not received anything so far. The Prime Minister listened to us with his heart.’ she added.

Bengal- Central meeting after 16 months

The meeting with Modi (PM Modi) started at 11 a.m. at New Parliament House in Delhi on Wednesday. Apart from Abhishek Banerjee, there are 10 other Trinamool MPs in the meeting, along with Mamata.

After a long 16 months, Modi-Mamata met together. Mamata Banerjee attended the India Alliance meeting yesterday on her three-day visit to Delhi.

Mamata Banerjee had previously said that the central government has withheld funds for several projects, including the housing scheme, one hundred days of work (MGNREGA), rural roads, and health schemes. Banerjee wanted the Prime Minister’s time to talk about the rights of Bengal.

Earlier, the Chief Minister repeatedly complained about the deprivation of the Centre. Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, along with party MPs, ministers, and legislators, staged a in Delhi. Mamata’s companions, Sudeep Banerjee, Sougat Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, Shatabdi Roy, Prakash Baraik, Pratima Mandal, Sajda Ahmed, and Nadeemul Haque, were present at the meeting.

Amid political enmity and accusations of deprivation against the central government, there was no dearth of courtesy in the PM-CM meeting on Wednesday.

According to some sources, On that day, Mamata Banerjee entered the Parliamentary house and greeted the Prime Minister.

Then, Narendra Modi wanted to know about the wellness of Mamata Banerjee’s injured foot (which was unfortunately injured during the election campaign).

Mamata Banerjee has visited Parliament House for the first time, so after discussing the demands, Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee went to her office.

Bengal owed about 1 lakh 16 thousand crores from the central Government in several projects. Mamata Banerjee also stressed the importance of not withholding money for the welfare of the poor in a federal structure.

Bengal deprived of dues, claims Bengal’s CM

Tensions between the Bengal government and the Centre over the release of funds in the state have been brewing for some time, and the TMC staged a protest in October, led by its general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee.

During the protest, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan left for home without meeting Trinamool representatives. Ministers, including Trinamool MP Abhishek, sitting in a position strike at Krishi Bhawan in Delhi, were stopped by the Delhi Police. Abhishek was even arrested.

Finally, this time the Chief Minister got the chance to meet with the Prime Minister to demand the arrears of salary.

Why were the funds blocked for WB?

The BJP has accused the Mamata Banerjee government of not allocating funds for the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana ( PMAY)’ and MGNREGA transparently. Under Sec 27 of the MGNREGA Act, funds were blocked for the state by the Ministry.

The Union Ministry of Rural Development had shown that the West Bengal state government has committed massive corruption in the implementation of the scheme. Thus, the centre had to take this decision under compulsion.

After repeated requests to release funds, the state government tried to create alternative means of employment at the grassroots level.

Chief Secretary Hari Krishna Dwivedi said the government was “emphasizing” the involvement of MGNREGS job card holders in state government department projects.

According to ministry sources, money could not be sent due to a fake job card and a lack of transparency.

The Additional Solicitor General alleged that there was corruption in the 100-day work in West Bengal. He alleged that crores of rupees were looted by West Bengal Government, creating fake job cards.

Talking about the MGNREGA fund, Banerjee said on Wednesday that payment of wages to workers is mandatory under the Constitution.

“We have not received a single penny for 100 days of work in the 2022–23 budget (under MGNREGA). Funds for (prime ministerial) housing schemes ( Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna ) have been stopped, rural development projects have been stopped, and the health mission program has also been stopped. Stopped. Even the  commission is no even getting funds,” Banerjee said.

Earlier, the TMC delegation submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister. The memorandum stated that West Bengal’s GSDP has grown 3.37 times in the last 12 years.

It was also pointed out that, despite inheriting a debt burden of around Rs 2 lakh crore from the previous government and having to pay a staggering amount of Rs 5 lakh crore towards debt and interest, Bengal is currently ahead in every respect. West Bengal did not relinquish its phenomenal progress during the period 2011–2023.

She claimed that despite Bengal’s excellent performance in all fields, Bengal is being deprived of our resources from the central pool.

Addressing a media conference after a meeting with nine party MPs at the Parliament complex, Banerjee said 155 central parties have already visited West Bengal. “I’ve explained 155 times. We will give again. Then the matter will be looked into”, Mamata said.

She added that if there was any mistake, the money can be stopped.

In the meeting, the Prime Minister said that his official would meet the official of Bengal.

“It’s not right to withhold money from poor people.” Mamata Banerjee said. “The Prime Minister listens to me. We have said that the dues must be paid within a certain period.”

Bengal BJP’s Reaction

The West Bengal BJP made various comments about this meeting. Wednesday, the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was described as a mere “political photo op.”

They also claimed that the meeting was aimed at conveying a message ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, stressing that the TMC is only focused on the interests of the state.

BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya commented, “He was not at all serious about securing dues funds for Bengal. He was more interested in a political photo op. If he really cared about the dues of the state, he would have been with the administrative officers. Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary But he decided to bring MPs from his party.”