Mamata Banerjee to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on her two-day visit to Chennai
Mamata Banerjee to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on her two-day visit to Chennai
West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday sought a probe by Supreme Court appointed judicial commission in the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat and raised questions on why central investigation agencies like “ED and CBI are not taking action against those responsible for the incident”.
Emphasising that accountability should be fixed in the tragedy Ms. Banerjee said, “Elections should not be important” and priority should be to stand by the family of the deceased and injured, provide them compensation and jobs.
About 141 people have died, after a colonial-era cable bridge collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi town on the evening of October 30.
The Trinamool Congress chairperson stressed that “she will not do politics” over the matter and to repeated questions referring to the Prime Minister, she said, “I will not talk anything against the Prime Minister”. Ms. Banerjee said that she wants to visit Morbi, but added, “If I go then they will say I have come for politics”.
She maintained that West Bengal has about 1500 bridges because of the riverine nature of the topography and many of such structures including Howrah Bridge are maintained by the central agencies and there are no regular inspections of such structures.
WB CM to meet TN CM
Ms. Banerjee left for Chennai on Wednesday on a two day visit and said that she will meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin. “I am going to Chennai at the invitation of our Governor (La Ganesan). Today I will meet Stalin (Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin) who is our political friend and our ally,” she said.
Asked what was expected from the meeting, Ms Banerjee said it was a courtesy meeting but added, “when two politicians meet, some politics is usually discussed”. The Chief Minister also reiterated that Opposition parties should work together.
Will not allow CAA says Mamata
On the decision of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to empower the district collectors of two more districts in Gujarat — Mehsana and Anand — to grant citizenship certificates to the members of Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Christian, Buddhist and Jain communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, sparking debate over Citizenship (Amendment) Act in West Bengal, the Chief Minister said she won’t allow CAA in the State.
“ I won’t allow this to happen here. We are all citizens here,” Ms Banerjee said. The Trinamool Congress chairperson said that she maintains her earlier stand on the CAA. “We oppose this. They are playing this game because of Gujarat elections,” she added.
