Narendra Modi to visit Kolkata in Apr, will Mamata meet him?

Gandhinagar, March 13: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is said to visit Kolkata in April to attend a felicitation programme organised by the age-old Merchant Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), the women's wing of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, along with other leading industrial and trading organisations. It was learnt that a leading businesswoman from Kolkata was coordinating the event.

Official sources said Modi will speak about his state's industrial development model and initiatives taken by the Gujarat government to develop automobile and ancillary industry after the Tata Nano car plant was shifted to Sanand from Singur in West Bengal.

The car factory was removed from Bengal in October 2008 after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), which was in the Opposition then, raised serious objection against land acquisition in Singur by the previous Left Front government.

The Gujarat CM will also be felicitated by 70 Gujarati organisations. Gujaratis form a sizeable number in West Bengal and have economic, social and political influence. It is not yet clear whether the Bengal CM will meet her Guajarat counterpart but reports said that there are chances of Left Front and TMC workers opposing Modi during his visit.

Meanwhile, sources in the state industry and mines department said that several small and medium industries have shifted to Gujarat from Bengal in the recent years and more automobile ancillary industries are exploring options to invest in Gujarat.

OneIndia News