Narendra Modi in Kolkata today: Did Mamata avoid him?

Kolkata, April 9: While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will engage with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday seeking financial assistance for the debt-ridden state, her Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi will have an interface with the industry captains of Bengal.

Bengal Inc will lend its ears to Modi's successful development model at a programme organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce, MCC Chamber of Commerce and the Bharat Chamber of Commerce. The Gujarat chief minister arrived in Kolkata on Monday night.

The interaction will take place amid concerns over Bengal's economic decline since the Singur fiasco whereby Gujarat gained at Bengal's cost. It was Banerjee's staunch opposition as the Opposition leader then which had forced the Tatas to shift its Nano car project from Singur to Sanand in Gujarat.

Several people, who lost their land in the abandoned project, were left to counter an uncertain future and there is no light at the end of the long dark tunnel yet.

It will be the first visit of the high-profile chief minister to West Bengal after being elevated to the BJP's parliamentary board. Some observers also see it as a part of Modi's effort to reach out to an all-India audience to cement his role in national politics.

The West Bengal chief minister, however, announced on Monday that she was leaving for a two-day trip to Delhi to meet the prime minister and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram although the Opposition Left said she was shy of meeting Modi.

Modi's visit stirred controversy after the state BJP accused the Banerjee administration of trying to play a spoilsport by not allowing the Netaji Indoor Stadium to be play host to Modi's grand civic reception on Tuesday.

The venue was later shifted to Mahajati Sadan where Modi is set to address his party leaders and workers. The BJP leader's special address to the businessmen will take place before that.

OneIndia News